Howard County Executive James Robey plans to earmark $250,000 in his proposed fiscal 2007 operating budget to help offset increasing utility and fuel costs and assist families at risk of losing their homes.
“The steep rise in fuel costs, compounded by the lack of a solution to the impending utility rate hike, is threatening an already over-burdened human services network,” he said in a press release.
He presented his plan for the new Family Stabilization Fund in the Department of Citizen Services at a news conference Monday at the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center on Freetown Road in Columbia. The center in Columbia is the county?s only homeless shelter.
The funding could help support 10 needy families stay on their feet for one year, said Susan Rosenbaum, director of the Howard County Department of Citizen Services. Many local organizations could apply for the money.
Of the money proposed:
» About $160,000 would be spent for housing services, such as security deposits, utility fees, rental assistance and case management.
» About $90,000 would go toward emergency services, including utility assistance, eviction prevention and security deposits.
Currently 777 homeless people live in Howard County, including 395 children. Housing is a burden for 70 percent of the county?s low-income families, he said.
The Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Columbia is $1,288, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A security deposit, first month?s rent and utility deposits require about $3,000, an impossibility for many families.
At a glance
» Thirty-three percent of renters in Howard County pay in excess of 30 percent of their income on housing.
» Seventy-four percent of low-income individuals and families experience a housing cost burden.
» Some seniors on fixed incomes are using 50 percent or more of their monthly income for rental costs in subsidized senior rental units.
Source: Howard County Human Services Master Plan, September 2005
What?s next?
» The Howard County Council will vote on the proposed budget at noon Wednesday in the Banneker Room of the George Howard Building on Court House Drive in Ellicott City.
