Cowlitz County HHS says state cuts reduce homeless grant; veterans fund, CDBG income offer local options
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Summary
Health & Human Services reported the state's consolidated homeless grant was amended, reducing the county's two-year award from about $11.7 million by roughly $1.8 million to about $9.8 million; HHS also described a roughly $1,000,000 veterans relief fund balance and a $10,000 CDBG program-income deposit and proposed options for reserving veteran-specific housing units and subsidizing service-animal costs.
Gina James, representing Cowlitz County Health & Human Services, told the Board of County Commissioners that the county's two-year Consolidated Homeless Grant (July 1, 2025–June 30, 2027) had been amended by the state and will be reduced. She said the grant originally was described as approximately $11,700,000 and that the state is recapturing some fiscal-year‑2026 funds and reallocating others, which will lower the county's contract by about $1,800,000 to roughly $9,800,000.
James said some projects already have funding approvals (for example a project with the Kelso School District tied to McKinney‑Vento services for homeless youth) and that other local proposals are under discussion with the state's Commerce department; she said staff will return to the board with more detail when the state confirms allowed uses for reallocated funds.
On veterans assistance, James said the veterans relief balance is about $1,000,000 and described options such as reserving veteran-specific housing units in the Goldfinch project or using funds to sponsor service animals and associated training costs. "The animals are provided at no cost to the veteran," she said, noting that veterans remain responsible for ongoing medical care for the animal but that community organizations incur acquisition and training costs that the county might help cover.
James also reported CDBG program income of slightly more than $10,000 returned to the county from earlier housing‑rehab work; under state guidance small program‑income amounts under a threshold (she said she could not recall whether the threshold is $20,000 or $25,000) do not have to be used within the current grant and can be applied locally or to the general fund. She asked the board how it wished to allocate that program income.
Other items discussed included the potential removal of "group B" state funding for small water systems (about $20,000 previously) and the county's option to reimplement a local fee structure if state funds are not available. Commissioners asked for follow-up details on eligibility, program counts and anticipated budget impacts. James said staff will prepare budget‑related information for an upcoming meeting.
No formal vote was taken; James said relevant contracts and agenda items (including a contract with GovPath for a food‑program database update) will be scheduled for future Tuesday meetings.