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Council declines requested monthly support for SPIN shelter after budget questions
Summary
SPIN asked the Silver City Council for $2,200 a month to sustain its SOS shelter; the group reported 3,900 bed nights, 3,000 meals and more than 2,000 shower encounters in the past quarter. Councilors probed staffing, Medicaid billing and neighborhood outreach and, after a split roll call, the funding motion did not carry.
SPIN, the local nonprofit that runs a shelter and related services, asked the Silver City Town Council for $2,200 per month to support operations, describing high demand for services and a recent quarterly caseload that included 3,900 bed nights, 3,000 meals and more than 2,000 shower encounters.
"In the last quarter, so the last three months, we have served 3,900 bed nights, 3,000 meals, and had over 2,000 shower encounters," SPIN representative Christine told council members while presenting the organization's updated profit-and-loss and a proposed shelter budget.
Council members pressed for detail on the proposed uses of the money and for the organization's full monthly revenue picture. One councilor noted the budget characterizes the $2,200 as salaries in a contingency scenario and asked why security-camera costs and other line items were omitted. Christine said Medicaid and Medicare billing apply to therapy and case-management services rather than to shelter housing; those billable services are reflected in SPIN's profit-and-loss statements, she said.
Council debate also touched on staffing levels and neighborhood relations. Councilors and the SPIN representative said the shelter staff about 24 people locally and roughly 40 companywide, with some clients later hired as service providers. When asked whether SPIN had held formal neighborhood meetings about impacts, the representative said no formal meetings had occurred and described recent learning visits to larger shelters to inform proposed improvements.
Mayor and council members then moved to a roll-call vote on a motion to approve monthly support. The roll call recorded both aye and nay votes; the motion did not carry on the floor per the council's recorded votes.
Because the council did not approve the funding at this meeting, no contract was executed. Council members asked staff and SPIN to provide additional budget clarifications and documentation should the group return with a revised request.
The council recessed for about 10 minutes after the vote and continued the agenda when it reconvened.
