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Eugene officials push state emergency board for shelter funding as providers cut services
Summary
City staff and councilors discussed deep cuts to shelter services after Oregon Housing & Community Services distributed the statewide shelter appropriation; staff said they will send a mayoral letter asking the agency to reconsider or seek emergency board funds to close local shortfalls.
Nathan Nelson, the city’s intergovernmental relations manager, told the Intergovernmental Relations Committee on Nov. 5 that the legislature appropriated roughly $204,000,000 for the statewide shelter program for the 2025–27 biennium and that Oregon Housing & Community Services distributed about $102,000,000 for the first year.
Nelson said Lane County received roughly half of what it had last cycle, which forced local providers to reduce staff and services. "Part of the state's directive as well was to minimize the number of beds that were gonna be closed," Nelson said, summarizing the state’s distribution and local responses.
Councilor Chris Evans pressed staff about the local consequences. "We've gotta figure out, you know, how the Dutch Floyd plugs the holes in the dike," Evans said, warning that layoffs at nonprofits would worsen street impacts. He specifically cited a provider laying off staff: "Vinny's laying off 14 staff and other folks; the overnight stuff is just gonna get worse," Evans said.
Mayor Mara Knudson said Eugene and its partners have a chance to show effectiveness in local shelter operations and urged continued coordination. "Our community and our partners have a unique opportunity to demonstrate our effectiveness in this work," Knudson said, noting local innovations that informed the statewide program.
Nelson said Lane County and several partner counties formally requested additional emergency board funding from Oregon Housing & Community Services (OHS). He described a regional request package asking roughly $24 million in emergency board funds, with Lane County seeking about $7 million to fill immediate gaps. Nelson said staff are drafting a mayoral letter for the OHS director and the governor’s housing adviser to press for additional funding and that the city will advocate for those funds even while acknowledging the state's large, competing needs.
City staff emphasized that Lane County is the entity that received the state shelter allocations and that the county must lead allocations to local providers, but Nelson said the city will be an active advocate. He said staff plan to finalize a letter on the mayor’s letterhead this week for review and signature.
No formal action was taken by the IGR committee at the meeting. Staff said they will return with revised policy documents in December and continue advocacy work as bill language and emergency funding deliberations unfold.
