PORTLAND, Ore. — In a decision that’s been months in the making, Multnomah County commissioners voted Thursday on how to spend millions of unspent dollars meant for homeless services. They’ve been sitting on these funds for months while homeless service providers and shelters in Portland have been looking to them for financial help. To some, this vote couldn’t come soon enough.
The money came from several different sources including over-collected Supportive Housing Services (SHS) tax dollars. The total amount of unspent funds was originally thought to be $65 million but it ended up being $58 million. A county spokesperson tells KGW that is because “the Joint Office of Homeless Services was able to increase spending on its own in Q4 last year.” It's unclear what they spent the money on.
Out of the unspent $58 million, about $40 million will go into next year’s budget— leaving about $17 million left over. On Thursday, county commissioners focused on how to spend that $17 million.
In a 4-1 vote, they approved the following:
- $4.7 million for capital investments on two additional Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites (TASS) in Portland
- $10 million for capacity-building grants for homeless service providers
- $1.5 million for rent assistance
- $1.5 million to expand Central City Concern’s Clean Start program to locations throughout the county
Commissioner Sharon Meieran was the only one who voted against this spending plan. In an interview with KGW on Friday she said, “Until we actually have accountability and aren't doing what feels like a giveaway, I will continue to vote no on spending these huge amounts of money that could move the dial.”
Another funding decision that's garnered a lot of attention is whether county commissioners would give Bybee Lakes Hope Center – Oregon’s largest homeless shelter located in North Portland — the money it needs to keep its doors open. They've been asking for $5 million. On Thursday, the commissioners agreed to grant them $1.5 million in emergency funding.
“We're ecstatic. We're very happy that this happened…I think it’s wonderful,” said Billy McClintock who lives at Bybee Lakes. The shelter was at risk of closing this week if it didn't get immediate financial support.
“It was a little frightening to get down to the very last day to get the yes,” said Alan Evans, the founder of Helping Hands Recovery Re-entry Outreach Centers, which oversees Bybee Lakes. Last month they stopped accepting new homeless people due to the lack of money.
“Once we receive the first payment, then we'll start doing intakes again and we're excited for that. We're ramping up for what that looks like. We've got about 90 people on the waiting list to get in our doors,” Evans said.
He's expecting the first check next week. However, the $1.5 million will only get them through the end of the year and it comes with a set of conditions including hiring a third party to review their finances. Evans said he is looking forward to working with that third party and the county on options for future funding.
It's the type of accountability Commissioner Meieran wants to see more of.
“It really boils down to the county having two problems: One, we don't have an overarching plan around homelessness, and two, we don't have accountability for the money that we're spending,” she said.
Separate from everything explained above, Multnomah County will soon get an additional, unexpected $50 million from Metro. A county spokesperson tells KGW, “Beyond and separate from the underspend of budgeted SHS funds last year, all three counties are going to receive additional unanticipated and never-budgeted funding from Metro. That's because Metro saw SHS collections in FY23 significantly outpace the forecasts they gave to the counties for their FY23 budgets.”
The county is expected to talk about how to spend that money sometime next week.