PORT TOWNSEND — The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners approved the request for proposals for affordable and homeless housing grant applications for 2022.
The commissioners approved $175,000 from Affordable Housing Tax Fund 148 and $275,000 from Homeless Housing Tax Fund 149 to be distributed through a grant application process during their June 7 meeting.
The Joint Oversight Board worked with interim county Administrator Mark McCauley regarding this year’s grant funding, and the board members and McCauley believe the funding is appropriate while still leaving a balance in the funds, said Lizanne Coker, homeless housing task force facilitator.
Money from Fund 148 is more flexible than Fund 149. The former needs to benefit affordable housing as a whole and the latter specifically addresses homeless housing.
Applications for grant funds are due by 4 p.m. Aug. 6, and the JOB will approve a recommendation of which projects will be funded and by how much in September.
Not all projects selected will be fully funded, said Coker, who added the commissioners are expected to give final approval in October.
The funding cycle is from Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022.
“We set those numbers, leaving a wee bit of funds in each balance,” Coker said. “If it turns out that there is even more funds than we dreamed for — which would be great — and if requests are higher, we could do a second round of funding off of the same applications later in the year.
“Keep the money out where it can do the most good.”
Applicants will be graded across five criteria, which each are graded out of 20 points, for a total of 100, including capacity, alignment, approach, impact of funds and budget.
Capacity grading is the experience the organization has with providing similar services or developing projects. The application requires a brief description of recent, relevant and successful experience within the past five years that support the agency’s capacity for providing the services, according to commission documents.
Applications must align with the county’s five-year plan priorities.
Approach is grading the completeness of the proposal and if the project is ready to receive the funds immediately and be fully funded or if additional work is needed by the organization, the documents said.
The JOB committee evaluating the applications will be looking at the impact the county funds will have, such as how many individuals will be directly impacted by the project, if the project will be sustained after the funding runs out, and how the funds will impact the overall funding for the project, according to the documents.
The budget scoring is looking for a feasible financial plan.
More information and the full applications for the grant funding can be found at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-HousingProjects.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
