The Durham County Board of Commissioners approved a shift of over $1 million in detention center maintenance funding and awarded a $480,000 contract to Farmer Foodshare to continue matching dollars for low-income residents at three farmers markets, but the meeting was dominated by urgent warnings about an approaching funding crisis for emergency rental assistance and calls for expanded tree preservation rules to protect low-income neighborhoods from development damage.
Federal emergency rental assistance funds are running out much faster than expected. Since October 2020, the county distributed $26 million to help nearly 3,600 tenants avoid eviction, but only $1.6 to $1.8 million remains—enough for about six to seven months instead of funding through 2024. The county now spends $180,000 to $240,000 monthly, compared to $180,000 annually before the pandemic. Commissioner Michelle Burton expressed urgent concern that landlords are inflating rents because they know government assistance will cover them, with rent requests jumping from $1,500 to $2,000 pre-pandemic to $8,000 to $9,000 today. Burton demanded staff return with recommendations for ongoing funding through county budget allocation, ARPA funds, or other sources to avoid the mistakes other jurisdictions made by returning federal money unused.
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