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17 <br /> 1 • Staff determined a multiplying factor for the remaining $175,000 in available funding and <br /> 2 used this to reduce all other awards by the same percentage. <br /> 3 • All eligible homeowners received a minimum award amount of $200 or up to the full <br /> 4 amount of the County portion of their tax bill if it was less than $200. <br /> 5 • Award amounts were the County portion of the tax bill less 2%of the applicant's household <br /> 6 income. <br /> 7 <br /> 8 Staff currently estimates that there will be 850 approved LHA applications, with a total County <br /> 9 property tax burden of $1,894,000. The exact property tax burden is difficult to calculate, as the <br /> 10 Tax Office continues to process data for a significant number of residents. <br /> 11 <br /> 12 Last year, with $250,000 allocated, LHA covered 25% of the County property tax burden for <br /> 13 qualified applicants. Given the current County budget allocation is $377,805, staff estimates the <br /> 14 allocation will cover about 19.9% of County property tax burden for the estimated recipients. The <br /> 15 County has two potential options in order to close the gap between 2024 and 2025 cost shares: <br /> 16 <br /> 17 • Option 1: Using the remaining funds in the Social Justice account(approximately$76,000) <br /> 18 would increase the cost share to 24%. <br /> 19 • Option 2: In order to achieve the same cost share proportion as last year (25%), the <br /> 20 County would need to allocate an estimated $95,726. Staff plans to share a more definite <br /> 21 amount at the meeting. The difference between the Social Justice account and this figure <br /> 22 would require a transfer from the County Capital Reserve Fund. The County Capital <br /> 23 Reserve was seeded in FY 2023 with $2,500,000 in surplus sales tax and has been used <br /> 24 over four fiscal years to address unanticipated capital and non-recurring needs. A transfer <br /> 25 of that difference ($19,726) would result in a remaining balance in the County Capital <br /> 26 Reserve Fund of$21,470. <br /> 27 <br /> 28 It should be noted that while staff is estimating both the total number of qualified applicants and <br /> 29 the exact County property tax burden at the time of this agenda abstract publication, the final <br /> 30 figures will be available and shared by the meeting date. <br /> 31 <br /> 32 It is also relevant to note that using the remainder of the Social Justice fund in January would <br /> 33 leave the County without an unallocated reserve to meet emergencies through the end of the <br /> 34 2025-26 fiscal year. <br /> 35 <br /> 36 Blake Rosser, Housing Director, introduced the item. He reported a large increase in <br /> 37 applications due to the revaluation -from just over 600 total applications last year to 940 this year. <br /> 38 Approvals increased from around 500 last year to approximately 800 this year (expecting about <br /> 39 850), representing about a 60% increase. He said the Board had already authorized increased <br /> 40 funding, but he wanted to compare the percentage of relief provided. Last year, $250,000 covered <br /> 41 about 25% of the county property tax burden for recipients. This year's $377,000 allocation would <br /> 42 cover about 20% of the burden for the estimated number of recipients. To approximate last year's <br /> 43 25% level would require using the remaining $76,000 from the Social Justice Fund account, <br /> 44 bringing coverage to about 24%, with an additional $20,000 needed from elsewhere to fully reach <br /> 45 25%. Blake Rosser noted that using the remainder of the Social Justice Fund would leave no <br /> 46 unallocated reserve for emergencies for the remainder of the fiscal year. <br /> 47 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked what the risk is if there are no reserves in the Social <br /> 48 Justice Fund. <br />