FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County's emergency rental assistance program has been shut down because federal funds that were expected to support the effort have not been provided, leaving some applicants who were approved without money they were expecting, county officials were told Monday.
"We are now at a point where we have run out of money in our ERA2 program," Brian Lester, county attorney and chief of staff to County Judge Joseph Wood told the Quorum Court's County Services Committee.
Lester told the justices of the peace the county had been told at the end of 2021 that an additional $3 million would be available. That money has not come to the county, Lester said Monday.
"We have been waiting, we've been waiting every day to see if we receive this additional funding," Lester said. "We haven't."
According to Lester, Washington County has distributed more than $13 million in emergency rental assistance funds to over 4,000 households. According to the county's website, Washington County was approved for another $3.4 million in rental assistance funds. That money has not been received by the county and the county stopped accepting applications for assistance on March 25.
Lester said that if the additional ERA funding does come to the county applications that have been approved will be funded until the money runs out.
Evelyn Rios Stafford, justice of the peace for District 12, questioned the decision to not pay money that had already been approved. Stafford said Washington County had "turned away" the prospect of additional rental assistance money and had "pulled the rug out from under" people who had been told they would receive help.
"I'm sure we've all been getting emails and messages from people who believed they were going to get this money and made plans accordingly," Stafford said. "They're in a bad situation."
Hawley Woods of Fayetteville told the committee she had been approved for rental assistance and was only notified on April 1 that the money was not available. Woods said she had saved some money for car repairs and would shift that to pay her rent, leaving the car repairs undone.
"I feel lucky," she said. "I can make this work. In three months I may not need the money but I do need it now."
Beth Coger of Fayetteville, the Democratic Party nominee for the District 9 seat on the Quorum Court, said the county has alternatives to just ending the program and leaving people without money they had been planning on. Coger said the Quorum Court put about $3.5 million in federal CARES Act money into the county's reserves and that could cover the rental assistance money that has been promised.
"Don't just leave these people hanging," Coger said.
The Committee took no action on the rental assistance program.
In other business, the justices of the peace were briefed on a new pay program for the county's Road Department.
The pay scale for Road Department employees has been a subject of discussion for several months, with a number of justices of the peace saying the pay offered by the county is not competitive with private businesses and the Road Department is unable to hire and retain employees.
Lester and Jeff Crowder, the county's road superintendent, presented a plan that would boost pay in the department and provide a process for advancement based on time with the county and on their knowledge and experience. Crowder said the department has six or seven vacancies now, with a program of bonuses and hiring incentives the Quorum Court approved last year having allowed a number of vacancies to be filled.
"We're getting inexperienced people," Crowder said of the recent hires. "What we need are experienced operators."
Lester said the plan would not be implemented before the end of this year, with work still needed through the county's personnel process and the budget process. Crowder said the new plan would increase the cost of pay for Road Department employees by about $700,000.
Federal rental assistance
Covid19 has exacerbated an affordable housing crisis that predated the pandemic and that has deep disparities that threaten the strength of an economic recovery that must work for everyone. To meet this need, the Emergency Rental Assistance program makes funding available to assist households that are unable to pay rent or utilities. Two separate programs have been established: ERA1 provides up to $25 billion under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which was enacted on December 27, 2020, and ERA2 provides up to $21.55 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was enacted on March 11, 2021. The funds are provided directly to states, U.S. territories, local governments, and (in the case of ERA1) Indian tribes. Grantees use the funds to provide assistance to eligible households through existing or newly created rental assistance programs.
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury