Despite concerns, Olympia City Council OKs funding for emergency homeless response

The Olympia City Council approved a multimillion-dollar funding plan for emergency homeless response efforts on its meeting Tuesday, despite concerns from some council members about where the money is coming from and what the plan leaves out.

The funding plan passed 4-3, with council members Clark Gilman and Renata Rollins and Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones voting no.

City Manager Steve Hall said staff had to “scramble” to come up with the money. The plan would pull from the city’s newly created Home Fund, which voters approved in February primarily to pay for permanent supportive housing, and use utility tax revenue that had been earmarked for parks acquisition.

The plan also includes a 0.5 percent utility tax increase that would generate $250,000 a year. Jones said he is uncomfortable with a tax increase coming so soon after the sales tax increase to pay for the Home Fund.

“We don’t have a solid plan for how those funds will be used, and yet we’re willing to go back to our residents again and ask for more money. I’m troubled by that,” he said.

The plan would cover the cost to open a camp near Plum Street Southeast with 40 tiny homes, shared restrooms, laundry, showers and a kitchen. Officials said they hope to open that by the end of the year.

It also would fund expansions at two existing shelters. Rosie’s Place, a youth shelter run by Community Youth Services, would become a 24-hour facility, while the Salvation Army, which is already preparing to be open 24 hours a day, would add beds and open an expanded dining area and day center.

Last, the plan would pay for storage units where homeless people could keep their belongings.

The funding plan does not include money for local groups that help connect people with housing or faith-based and nonprofit groups that could host temporary camps under an emergency ordinance the council passed in June.

The city is moving forward with the purchase of a property on Martin Way East at Pattison Street Northeast for $1.4 million, but what it will do with the site is unclear. The council eventually wants to build permanent supportive housing there using Home Fund dollars.

In the meantime, city staff proposed moving the Interfaith Works shelter from the First Christian Church in downtown to the Martin Way site to expand its capacity. That would cost about $1 million, according to city estimates, on top of the shelter’s current operating costs.

Officials warn the shelter’s funding for the coming years is uncertain, and council members said Interfaith Works would need sustainable funding before the move could happen.

This story was originally published September 19, 2018 at 4:43 PM.