MEDICAL LAKE – During a Sept. 21 meeting, the City Council approved a $50,000 grant to help with rental assistance as the current eviction moratorium was extended and is set to expire at the end of October.
City Administrator Doug Ross presented the topic as an action item and said this is the first expenditure the city has made with funding it received via the American Rescue Plan Act.
The city was approved to receive close to $1.4 million in rescue plan funding and has received half of that total.
The remainder will sit in an overall budget allocated to fund specific rescue fund projects such as infrastructure improvements.
This was done as a preventative measure because a potential uptick in rental and mortgage assistance requests is a possibility, he said.
The grant will also help land and property owners to potentially “backfill” any lost revenue owners may have faced due to delinquent rent and mortgage payments, Ross said.
Residents needing help will have to go through the outreach program to apply for the rental assistance and there won’t be a lot of strings attached when considering qualifying families, he said.
“If they need help, give it to them,” Ross said.
The city administrator also asked the council to consider allocating another $50,000 toward utility assistance, but that discussion was tabled for future discussion.
Council members said they are willing to discuss the issue further, but want to give residents a chance to catch utilities bills up before making a final decision.
The city has accumulated $48,000 in lost revenue due to unpaid utilities, Ross said. But the number of delinquent accounts is not far above average.
It is the amount past due that is higher-than-normal, and some customers haven’t paid their water or sewer bill in a year, he said.
Ross said finding appropriate funding mechanisms for these issues can be very tricky, as some of the language directly specifies what money can be allocated to what causes.
Payment plan options will be made available to customers regarding utility bills, but customers will be required to keep all current charges paid and chip away at any past due balances.
The council may discuss additional rental and mortgage assistance funding if needed, Ross said.
Matthew O. Stephens can be reached at reporter2@cheneyfreepress.com.
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