For much of the past decade, the amount of money Washington lawmakers spent on housing and homelessness programs has grown gradually, from about $200 million to $400 million in each two-year budget between 2013 and 2021.
But over the past four years, these expenses have soared, according to an analysis of state spending data from the Office of Financial Management.
These numbers show that more than $4 billion – or about 80% – of the roughly $5 billion spent on expanding housing and preventing homelessness since 2013 has been put into the past two state budgets.
Part of that spike is due to an infusion of federal pandemic aid. But it also reflects a growing recognition among lawmakers that Washington has a housing problem, specifically a shortage of affordable housing.
The additional spending has gone toward improving services for the homeless, purchasing temporary shelters, building more affordable housing and providing rental assistance.
While it has helped, affordable housing still does not meet estimated needs, rents remain too high for many renters, and homeownership is often out of reach for lower and even middle-income households.
The numbers
Since 2013, Washington has put about $3.4 billion into homelessness prevention programs and another $1.9 billion into housing construction, for a total of about $5.3 billion, according to Office of Financial Management data.
Between 2013 and 2021, spending on housing and homelessness programs averaged about $262 million per two-year budget. In the past two budgets combined, it totaled more than $4.2 billion, including more than $1 billion in federal COVID aid.
The state’s entire operating budget for the current two-year budget cycle is approximately $72 billion.
Outside of federal funding, one of the main ways the state funds housing and homelessness services is through document fees, which people pay at their county auditor’s office when they request certain legal documents.
Funding from that fee is distributed among a range of programs, including the county’s homeless housing plans, rental assistance, incentives for landlords who house people with rental assistance, and the construction and maintenance of permanent supportive housing.
During the budget cycle that ends next June, more than $562 million will be spent on programs funded by these fees. That’s up from $251 million last cycle. Before 2021, less than $100 million was set aside for these programs every two years.
Another pot of money is the State Support Program for Housing and Essential Needs, which provides low-income people with essential needs, such as hygiene products or public transport passes, or housing subsidies if they cannot work due to their physical or mental condition. That fund has also seen a boost over the past four years. In this two-year budget cycle, lawmakers have set aside $130 million. That’s up from $114 million in the previous cycle and $78 million in the 2019-2021 cycle.
Since 2021, Washington state has spent approximately $1.5 billion on housing construction. That’s compared to about $446 million from 2013 to 2021.
Most of the money spent on construction over the past decade has come from the Housing Trust Fund, which provides grants to affordable housing providers.
From 2013 to 2019, the trust fund was the only account lawmakers used to fund affordable housing. In 2013, lawmakers put $56 million into it. Over the past two years, they have spent a record $500 million on the fund.
In recent years, the state has also set aside money to purchase emergency housing and temporary shelters, provide loans for the rehabilitation of rural homes and maintain mobile homes.
Did it help?
The money for housing has helped, according to the Commerce Department.
Between 2011 and 2015, Washington averaged about 24,100 units built annually. Over the next four years, the state produced an average of nearly 41,000 units per year. Between 2020 and 2023, approximately 46,400 units were built annually – slightly more than the expected annual requirement of 46,118.
Despite more housing being built overall, Tedd Kelleher, housing policy manager at the Commerce Department, said in a statement that investments in affordable housing have not kept pace with population growth in Washington.
In Washington, there is only about one affordable home available for every five households that need one, according to Commerce. The state needs to build about 27,011 low-income housing units each year to meet demand, the department estimates show. Between 2020 and 2023, the national average of units built for low-income families was 23,877.
Michele Thomas, director of policy and advocacy at the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, said the state should place more emphasis on affordable housing, and not necessarily all types of new construction.
“More luxury apartments should not be built,” she said. “What we need is affordable housing.”
When it comes to funding homelessness supports and services, Thomas said the money has helped people experiencing homelessness, but the state must do more to address the root causes of homelessness, such as steep rent increases and the lack of affordable houses.
Every time a state program helps someone avoid homelessness, she says, more people fall into it, creating a “constant churn.”
“Every one of those dollars changed someone’s life,” Thomas said. “But nothing will stop more people from becoming homeless.”
This story was initially published by the Washington State Standard, a nonprofit news organization and part of the States News network, which covers state issues. Learn more at washingtonstatestandard.com.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Billions spent on housing in Washington state
