COLUMBUS, Ohio — The U.S. Treasury approved Ohio’s request for $100.6 million in federal rental assistance funds to be reallocated to cities and counties in the state, so the funds will not go to other states as some had feared.
What You Need To Know
- $100M+ of Ohio rental assistance will go to cities in counties in the state
- Cuyahoga County to receive more than half of the reallocated funds
- The federal government is trying to accelerate the distribution of assistance
Officials said Cuyahoga Cuyahoga is receiving more than half of the funds, a total of $51.2 million. The other major recipients are the city of Toledo ($19.4 million) and Summit County ($15 million). Lorain County, Hamilton County and the city of Cleveland will each receive $5 million.
The cities and counties are receiving funds that were previously allocated to the state of Ohio because their programs have dispensed a greater share of rental assistance funds than the state’s programs. The federal government is trying to accelerate the delivery of the assistance to residents in need.
Officials said they were pleased to learn that the reallocated funds will support programs in Ohio, rather than programs in other states.
“Good news. On Monday, March 14, Treasury let us know that $100.6 million in rental assistance is staying in Ohio,” Todd Walker, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Development, said in an email.
In January 2021, the U.S. Treasury awarded more than $560 million of rental assistance to Ohio and sent about $221 million directly to certain cities and counties in Ohio.
The funds were part of the first round of stimulus support for emergency rental relief, known as ERA1, which totals $25 billion nationally. The rental assistance distribution is designed to help those who became unemployed or underemployed due to COVID-19 or who meet other eligibility criteria.
While some states have exhausted their ERA1 funds, Ohio has only used a fraction of the $560 million it was allocated. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports Ohio’s state program ranks 40th of U.S. states’ for the percentage of ERA1 dollars used.
The Biden administration said it has been working to speed up state and local grantees’ distribution of the funds. In Sept. 2021 the Treasury was required to reallocate “excess” ERA1 funds.
To date, Ohio has distributed rental assistance through regional community action agencies in all 88 counties. The state is working on a statewide portal that will allow residents to apply for rental assistance online. Officials have not said when the statewide portal will launch or how of much Ohio’s rental assistance funds will be available through the portal.
In addition to ERA1, congress approved a second round of emergency rental assistance, ERA2, which totals $21.6 billion.