[img]1305|right|Andy Weissman||no_popup[/img]Although a stern tone of urgency has informed recent comments by City Council members on the fast-drying funding for the Housing Division, Councilman Andy Weissman says it will be next year, budget season in the late winter and early spring, before financial support is readdressed.
At stake is Housing’s $1.2 million budget, all but $200,000 of which goes to Rental Assistance for elderly and disabled.
“There is absolutely no way to predict what programs will be funded, if any,” Mr. Weissman said at the weekend. “The direction to staff was to consider available options, if we were inclined to want to pursue retaining the programs. All of us expressed an interest in doing that.
“The Housing program that received the most attention in our discussion was Rental Assistance, which has 57 or so families who receive rental subsidies. That money runs out in June.”
No timetable was attached to the Council’s order, and city staffers did not indicate how much time they would need to conduct research.
“All Housing programs deserve to be preserved,” Mr. Weissman said. “But the Council felt the Rental Assistance program was of the highest priority.”
He is not nearly as optimistic as some of his colleagues.
“Whether we are going to be able to fund any or all of it remains to be seen,” the Councilman said.
(To be continued)
