Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Supportive Housing Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Metro oversight committee: Supportive Housing Services largely met regional goals while counties face funding and supply pressures
Summary
Metro presenters and the SHS oversight committee told the Multnomah County Board that year‑4 SHS spending rose to about $424.9 million, the region largely met its performance goals but faces constrained future revenue and housing-supply shortfalls; county staff and oversight members urged governance and investment-priority reviews.
Metro and the Tri‑County Supportive Housing Services (SHS) oversight committee presented the fourth annual regional report, saying the measure largely met its regional goals for fiscal year 2025 even as rising demand and lower forecasted revenue create hard choices for the next phase of implementation.
Yesenia Delgado, SHS division director at Metro, said the report covers July 2024 through June 2025 and was prepared alongside the regional oversight committee. Mike Savara, a co‑chair of the oversight committee, summarized the year as “monumental” for building system capacity while also signaling a coming “reckoning” over constrained resources.
Jeremiah Rigsby, chief legal and public affairs officer at CareOregon and an oversight committee member, provided fiscal details: gross SHS tax collections were about $325 million in year 4, leaving roughly $299.3 million after fees and administrative costs to distribute to counties under the formula; county spending in year 4 totaled about $424.9 million. Rigsby said that, with prior‑year carryover, the region had about $687 million available for SHS activities.
The committee highlighted where money was spent: the largest category was permanent supportive housing (about $122.6 million), followed by safety on and off the streets (about $116.8 million) and system support (roughly $67 million) to sustain provider capacity. Rigsby said administrative rates for most providers clustered around 15 percent.
The presenters acknowledged tradeoffs. Savara and Rigsby both flagged a mismatch between system inflows and outflows: they reported an approximate pattern where for every 10 people exiting the region’s system to permanent housing, roughly 30 new people entered, a dynamic that drives continued demand. They also said construction delays paused about 200 planned permanent supportive housing units.
Multnomah County interim Homeless Services director Anna Plum corrected one slide during her remarks: the county’s annual goal for new supportive housing units this year was 401 and performance was 244. Plum and committee members said five construction projects will add PSH capacity later this fiscal year.
Committee recommendations emphasized clarifying governance and oversight roles as Metro reorganizes SHS bodies, strengthening public communications about multiyear progress, continuing to boost culturally specific provider capacity, and revisiting investment priorities and allocation formulas for the program’s second half.
Commissioners pressed presenters on how SHS fits with health partners and Medicaid access, on measurement choices (including point‑in‑time count limitations), and on regional housing supply strategies. Presenters said Metro is updating the measure’s multi‑year goals and that a new regional policy and oversight committee will include representation from counties, cities, health systems, providers and philanthropy to guide those decisions.
The presentation did not request a board vote; it was provided for information and to surface issues — governance, supply, and funding — that the oversight committee and Metro staff said will require coordinated regional policymaking going forward.
