Primary Department: County Administration
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Jesse Dickerman, Interim County Administrator
Secondary Department: Management and Budget
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): Choose an item.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by the Office of County Administration for approval to utilize funds from the Harris County general fund (Fund 1000) to cover ineligible federal grant expenses incurred by the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program in the amount of $4,455,077.47.
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Background and Discussion:
In January 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department established the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program to
provide funding to state and local governments to assist eligible renter households impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic, funded via the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Additional funding was allocated to the ERA program via the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), and subsequently allocated to state and local governments.
Commissioners Court established the 2021 Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program on February 9, 2021, in collaboration with the City of Houston. The program administrators were BakerRipley, Catholic Charities, and the Alliance. Harris County provided over $154 million in rental assistance to ensure housing stability for more than 33,000 households as part of this program.
Throughout the program's duration, various ineligible expenses were identified, including duplicative assistance payments with the State o...
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