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Washington County commissioners back cautious approach to Metro's SHS reforms
Summary
Washington County staff and commissioners endorsed recommendations that preserve county reserve rules, limit SHS-funded housing spending to benefiting severely impacted populations, and seek clearer data and governance details from Metro before any implementation. Commissioners asked staff to obtain Metro revenue data and emphasized protecting the original county allocation formula.
At a public session, Washington County staff presented a set of recommendations responding to Metro's proposed reforms to the Supportive Housing Services (SHS) measure, and the county's board of commissioners signaled support for a cautious, county-led approach. Staff urged keeping county reserves within county accounting and policy, limiting any new housing investments to activities that serve SHS populations A and B, and requiring clearer regional governance and data rules before shifting authority to Metro.
County staff framed the recommendations as a negotiating position rather than a final counterproposal. "We're not supportive of any buckets," said Unidentified Speaker 1 (staff), describing opposition to a proposal that would give cities a separate, earmarked allocation. Staff also advised that under current Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) terms counties must avoid supplanting prior general fund expenditures and would need to…
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