Agenda - 06-07-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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41 1 comprehensively about how the county supports low-income people, through either a strategic 2 plan or a budget. She said the Board needed information to know if they are setting up 3 something sustainable. She said it doesn't make sense to do something for one year, and then 4 it goes away. She said she would rather be cautious and see what they get if they make 5 changes to the communication plan and build up trust, before they do the other things proposed 6 in recommendation #1. 7 Commissioner Fowler said she is cautious as well, but currently this would use ARPA. 8 She said it would be critical to figure out they were going to pay for it in the future. She said one 9 argument to do the program is that people are still recovering from losses during the pandemic. 10 She said hopefully there would be some recovery from the pandemic. She said she would 11 suggest capping the total at the total county tax bill amount. She said that she thought the 12 response would be greater than a 50% increase. She said she would decrease the amounts in 13 slide #9 to $500, $750, and $1,000 for the first year so that the funds would not be used up in 14 one year. She said offering $300 as a base amount is a much more cautious approach. 15 Commissioner Richards said on c, the dollar estimate is based on 2021 recipient. She 16 asked if that means it is based on the 91 people that applied. 17 Nancy Freeman said it should be based on 125 applicants. 18 Commissioner Richards said that 125 for 2022 would be $95,000. She said we are 19 hoping we have more than 125. She asked when ARPA funds have to be used or committed. 20 Bonnie Hammersley said they have to be used by December 31, 2024. 21 Commissioner Richards said it looks like we would use the money all in one year. 22 Commissioner McKee said he liked the idea of looking at the income, because the lower 23 your income is, the more in jeopardy you are. He asked if there is a way to estimate the number 24 of homes that fall in the various income categories. 25 Nancy Freeman said the tax office did not have that information. 26 Corey Root said they could come back to the Board with an estimated number. 27 Commissioner McKee said if the county wanted to be cautious they could lower the 28 thresholds and start at a level that is sustainable. He said that each year they could increase or 29 expand based on demand. 30 Commissioner Bedford said another factor is the full bill amount. She said that removes 31 accountability for other elected boards that the county has no say over. She thinks it should be 32 limited to the county portion of the bill. 33 Commissioner McKee said he agreed with that. 34 Commissioner Richards asked if they think they should do the 80% AMI. She asked 35 how much impact would that have on the people that need the most help. 36 Corey Root said that 30% and 60% of AMI is often used for other housing programs. 37 She said there was considerable discussion about the 80% AMI, because the program affects 38 homeowners. 39 Chair Price asked if funds from the social justice fund could be used for this program. 40 Bonnie Hammersley said that would be up to the Board. 41 Chair Price said the balance is roughly $250,000. 42 Bonnie Hammersley said there is about $180,000 remaining in the fund. 43 Chair Price said she is hesitant moving forward with recommendation #1. She said it is 44 unclear whom the program is trying to assist. She said they do not know what people's living 45 situations are and people may be cost burdened for other reasons. She said this is a systemic 46 issue; people did not just become burdened due to the revaluation. She said that is only one 47 part of it. She said the county must find a way to better evaluate homes in various 48 neighborhoods. She said she wanted to determine how they could really help the families that 49 need assistance. She said she needed more information. 50 Commissioner Bedford said she mostly agreed with Chair Price's comments. She said 51 $300 makes it worth people's time to complete application.