SPOKANE, Wash — Spokane City Council voted unanimously on Monday night to accept the first of two multi-million-dollar grants from the federal government for rental assistance.
Most of the details on how the funds will be allocated will be determined later; this vote was simply to create an account to and from which the city will accept and distribute the money.
This pot of money is roughly $3.5 million, coming from the original CARES Act stimulus package. It can be used to help people who are late on rent, mortgage, or utility payments due to the pandemic, as well as for helping fund homeless shelters.
A second pot of money, worth about $6.7 million and coming from the second stimulus package, will be voted on by council at a later date, but is also expected to be accepted soon. That grant does not mention shelters.
Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs says it's unlikely any of this money will actually become accessible until at least March, at which point people with COVID-related debts can begin applying.
"It's pretty much first come first serve, as long as they're eligible, and they sign up, it's first come first serve at this point," he said.
Landlords whose tenants are behind on rent because of the pandemic can also apply, as long as the money is used to forgive the rent.
The hope is that demand for this assistance will be manageable, but it seems likely it will still exceed supply.
"This is millions of dollars, so that's great, but we believe the need is far greater than that," Beggs said. "And if we don't do something about it, once the eviction moratorium goes away, a lot of people will be homeless. So we're really trying to get those debts paid, and the landlords can then pay their mortgages and people can stay in their housing."