State gives Whatcom County nearly $2 million grant to help renters facing eviction
Whatcom County is getting an extra $1.8 million in leftover pandemic-relief money to help local renters who are facing eviction.
County Council members voted 6-1 Tuesday night to accept the state Department of Commerce grant funding. Councilman Mark Stremler dissented.
Acceptance of the grant will boost the total amount of money dedicated to renter assistance to $12.3 million over the 2023-25 budget cycle.
“I hear constantly how needed rental assistance is,” Councilwoman Kaylee Galloway said during a committee discussion Tuesday afternoon. “At the end of the day, we want to keep people housed. Many of these people are working people and the rents are just — they can’t keep pace with the wages and other increases to the cost of living.”
Funds will help 145 households that are behind on rent through the Opportunity Council, said Chris D’Onofrio, who is housing supervisor of the Whatcom County Health and Community Services Department.
According to the most recent data from the annual Point in Time report, released in July 2023, a total of 1,059 people were homeless in Whatcom County. That figure included 711 people in shelters or transitional housing, and 348 people who were unsheltered.
According to the United Way’s most recent report, 40% of Whatcom County residents are among the working poor, meaning that their household income is below the federal poverty line or that they don’t earn enough to afford housing, child care, food, transportation and health care.
Washington state has the nation’s fifth most expensive housing market in the U.S., according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2023 “Out of Reach” report, which says that an Evergreen State resident must earn $36.33 an hour or work 93 hours at minimum wage every week to afford rent on a two-bedroom home.
In March 2024, the median cost for rental properties all types in Bellingham is $2,045, up $170 from February, according to Zillow.
As of January, the average wage in Bellingham is $50,066, or $24.07 an hour, according to ZipRecruiter.
About 54% of Bellingham residents are renters, and the rental vacancy rate is about 3%, or half what it should be for a competitive housing market, according to city of Bellingham data.
This story was originally published March 8, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
