ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta could divert half of a planned $22 million on housing relief to other purposes, under a plan the Atlanta City Council could consider Monday.
The city is only on track to spend $11 million in federal coronavirus pandemic aid to help people stay in their homes, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The rest of the money will be shifted to other parts of the city’s budget, under the proposal.
Local governments face an end-of-the-year deadline to spend all the money under the federal CARES Act. Cities are scrambling to get the funds out the door to avoid having to return them while adhering to federal guidelines.
Atlanta has struggled to spend the housing assistance. Interim Chief Operating Officer Jon Keen told the council’s Community Development and Human Resources Committee on Tuesday that roughly 3,000 families will have been helped.
City officials estimated in June that 10,000 to 20,000 families might need assistance.
To ensure that the rest of the money is spent by the deadline, the money is being shifted to cover city expenses, such as hazard pay for city employees who have been most exposed to the COVID-19 virus.
Keen said that if the deadline for spending is extended, the money will be shifted back to housing support.
Tim Franzen, chairman of the Housing Justice League in Atlanta, said city policies created unnecessary barriers.
For example, the city required applicants to show leases, he said. Many of Atlanta’s poor don’t have formal leases with landlords and pay rent on a month-to-month basis.
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