PORT TOWNSEND – The Jefferson County Council of Commissioners has approved the Request for Proposals for Affordable Housing and Homelessness Grant applications for 2022.

Commissioners approved $ 175,000 from the Affordable Housing Tax Fund 148 and $ 275,000 from the Homeless Housing Tax Fund 149 to be distributed through a grant application process at their June 7 meeting. .

The Joint Supervisory Board has been working with Acting County Administrator Mark McCauley regarding funding for this year’s grant, and Board Members and McCauley believe the funding is appropriate while leaving a balance in the funds, said Lizanne Coker, facilitator of the Homeless Housing Working Group.

Money from Fund 148 is more flexible than Fund 149. The first should benefit affordable housing as a whole and the second specifically concerns housing for the homeless.

Grant applications are due August 6 at 4:00 p.m. at the latest, and the JOB will approve a recommendation of which projects will be funded and their amount in September.

Not all selected projects will be fully funded, said Coker, who added that the commissioners are expected to give their final approval in October.

The funding cycle runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

“We fixed those numbers, leaving a tiny bit of funds in each balance,” Coker said. “If it turns out that there are even more funds than we had dreamed of – which would be great – and if the requests are higher, we could do a second round of funding on the same more requests. late in the year.

“Keep the money where it can do the most good. “

Applicants will be scored on five criteria, each scored out of 20 points, for a total of 100, including capacity, alignment, approach, impact of funds and budget.

Capacity assessment is the organization’s experience of providing similar services or developing projects. The application requires a brief description of recent, relevant, and successful experience over the past five years that supports the agency’s ability to deliver the services, according to commission documents.

Applications must align with the priorities of the county’s five-year plan.

The approach is to assess the completeness of the proposal and determine if the project is ready to receive the funds immediately and be fully funded or if the organization needs additional work, according to the documents.

The JOB committee evaluating the applications will consider the impact that the county funds will have, for example how many people will be directly affected by the project, if the project will be maintained after the funding is exhausted and how the funds will impact the overall funding. of the project, according to the documents.

Budget scoring is looking for a workable financial plan.

More information and full grant applications are available at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-HousingProjects.

_______

Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at [email protected]