Lacey will spend more than $700,000 to help area residents with utilities, rent, childcare
Lacey City Council has authorized the city to spend more than $700,000 to help qualifying area residents with their utility bills, rent, mortgages, childcare and other expenses.
The council agreed to the funding earlier this month, and a contract between the city and the Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason & Thurston Counties was recently signed. The money will be dispersed through the Community Action Council to those qualifying residents.
The funding isn’t coming directly from the city. Instead, it is a second round of federal CARES Act money that has been funneled through the state to the city. And it has to be spent by the end of November, said Kirsten York, director of family services for the Community Action Council.
York said Lacey area residents will qualify for the funding if they have earned 60 percent of the area median income over the last 30 days and have been impacted by COVID-19. On a case-by-case basis, higher income earners who also have been impacted by COVID-19 will be considered, too, she said.
Here’s how the money has been earmarked: $400,000 to help those with their utility bills, $210,050 for rent and mortgage assistance, $100,000 for childcare costs and $30,000 for internet costs to support remote learning.
Finance director Troy Woo said the city arrived at the $400,000 figure because that’s the city’s estimate for the total cost of delinquent water, sewer and stormwater bills during the March to June time frame of the pandemic.
Some of that delinquency is the city’s own creation. After the pandemic arrived, the city took steps to assist ratepayers by not enforcing collections, penalties or shutoffs.
Before the pandemic, 12 percent to 15 percent of the city’s utility bills were typically delinquent, but during the pandemic the percentage hasn’t been that much higher, Woo said.
“It didn’t double or triple by any means,” he said.
How did the city arrive at the $210,050 figure to help those with rent or their mortgage? It wasn’t immediately clear how many people in the Lacey area are struggling in this category, but the Community Action Council’s York offered this perspective: Countywide, the council has scheduled 650 appointments in September, October and November to help those struggling to pay rent.
If you’re a Lacey area resident in need of assistance, call the Community Action Council at 360-438-1100.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
