In the midst of large year-over-year increases in homelessness and the worst eviction rates in our state's history, our communities cannot afford to experience cuts in funding for critical homelessness services. 

According to statewide Point in Time Count data from the Washington Department of Commerce, year-over-year homelessness increased in 2024 with at least 31,040 people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness on the night of the count. This included a 5% increase in sheltered homelessness and a 26% increase in unsheltered homelessness from the 2023 count.

To maintain current services and prevent cuts, the state needs to invest at least $253 million in the operating budget to make up a shortfall caused by a lag in document recording fee revenue that funds homelessness services in every county. This includes operations and maintenance funding and youth homelessness program funding.

Our state has a dedicated fund source for homelessness prevention from "document recording fees," paid to register real estate transactions. Due to ongoing economic conditions, including the current interest rates, these revenues continue to struggle to provide enough funding to maintain programs to help those who are currently homeless and to prevent others from becoming homeless. State lawmakers took action in 2023 and 2024 to address the shortfall, but the document recording fees are still falling behind projections and another backfill is needed to prevent cuts to homelessness services later this year.

These fees fund shelter, housing, street outreach, and other efforts to prevent people from becoming homeless and assist people experiencing homelessness in every county in Washington. When Washington is already unable to meet the needs of people facing homelessness, the last thing we can afford is to lose more ground.

In addition to filling the document recording fee gap, the state should also increase administrative funding for homelessness services contracts to help organizations increase their workers' wages and address critical worker shortages.

More details:

• This is a budget item, there is not a bill other than the state's Operating Budget bill.
• A related bill, House Bill 1858, would eliminate the document recording fee exemption for financial institutions when they sell a mortgage to another financial institution. If passed, this would increase revenue and reduce the gap. It would also increase funding for the covenant homeownership program.
• These funds support state and local efforts to address homelessness. This budget amount would fill the gap for the state portion of funding.  

Protecting people experiencing homelessness until everyone has a home is a fundamental value of the Housing Alliance and a key element in our "Roadmap to Housing Justice". Learn more at wliha.org/roadmap