Council members on Tuesday heard the proposed budget plan and responded to the 1.5 million dollar budget for homelessness and housing.
Council member Kristen Sneddon questioned the proposed budget by suggesting that 5 million dollars be allocated to housing.
“Santa Barbara's incredibly affluent and we also are incredibly impoverished. And these are, you know, one area that I think benefits the whole community is affordable housing,” said Sneddon.
In the current proposal, homelessness and housing is funded by Measure I, which passed last year. Sneddon suggested that more funds come from other sources to increase the budget.
Meanwhile, a number of housing organizations voiced their concerns as well.
Rob Fredericks is the executive director of the city’s Housing Authority. He says that the Trump Administration's “draconian skinny budget” should be alarming to the city.
“It proposes eliminating, as you heard earlier, the home and CDBG program and slashing rental assistance by 23% and block granting what remains, threatening housing stability for millions across the nation,” said Fredericks.
Fredericks also says possible cuts could mean that over 500 vulnerable households would lose their homes due to lost rental assistance.
The Santa Barbara City Council is scheduled to hold budget deliberations on June 10 and will make a final vote on June 17.
