We should all care that Idaho renters are headed for a ‘fiscal cliff’ as aid runs out | Opinion

A huge safety net is about to be pulled away from Boise renters, and some will be left hanging on like trapeze artists in midair.

As Idaho Statesman reporters Rachel Spacek and Kevin Fixler reported, money from the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program is expected to run out in a couple of weeks.

The program, created to provide rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, has helped nearly 14,000 Treasure Valley households.

Without that aid, as Ali Rabe, executive director of the rental assistance nonprofit Jesse Tree, put it, we’re headed for “a serious fiscal cliff.”

Even though the pandemic has ended, the financial reverberations linger: Inflation remains stubbornly high, and while housing prices have cooled a little bit, homeownership is still out of reach for many Idahoans.

The median sales price of a house in Ada County was down 13% in April from the same month last year, but $517,000 is still almost 40% higher than prices just three years ago in 2020, according to Boise Regional Realtors.

That lack of affordability trickles down to the rental market, as residents who would otherwise be able to buy a house instead stay in the rental market, driving up prices.

Idaho has become the fourth least affordable state in the nation for renters, according to a Moving Feedback study based on which states have seen the highest average monthly rent increase over the past three years.

Rents in Idaho have increased an average 41%, an increase of $475 over the past three years.

In the Boise metro area, rent has increased more than 37% since 2020, according to Apartment List, and the median price of a one-bedroom apartment in Boise is $1,375 a month, while a two-bedroom rental is $1,595, according to Zillow, as reported by the Statesman.

That’s devastating to someone like Jessica Thompson, a single mother of two young children, who makes $15-an-hour — or $2,600 a month before taxes — and pays $1,700 a month for a two-bedroom townhouse in Meridian.

Thompson, who spoke with Spacek and Fixler about her situation, said rental assistance helped cover rent every other month, which gave her some months to save money. But with inflation, Thompson said she struggled to save even during the months when she got assistance.

“Now that those funds are running out, and nothing else is coming on the horizon from the federal government, it’s scary to think what that will look like,” Rabe told the Statesman.

Rabe said she fears an explosion of evictions.

Through April, eviction court hearings in Ada County doubled compared to the same period last year, according to Jesse Tree. If that trend continues, nearly 1,600 tenants will be at risk of being pushed out of their homes because they are unable to afford their monthly rent.

After a federal eviction ban expired in August 2021, eviction hearings in Ada County jumped by 42% the following year, while those in Canyon County increased by more than 20%.

Without a safety net, many evictees may end up experiencing homelessness.

We chronically hear warnings that one thing or another will “turn us into Portland or Seattle.” Well, here’s a way it actually could happen: a sudden surge in the homeless population that overwhelms shelters, leaving nowhere but the street for those who have been priced out of their apartments.

An upcoming planned rewrite of Boise’s zoning code should provide help in the effort to increase housing abundance, which in turn will bring down prices.

As well, there are signs that the housing market is cooling.

These are all promising harbingers, but the effects won’t be immediate. They certainly won’t come in time to respond to the impending fiscal cliff for renters.

It will be vital that shelters, such as Interfaith Sanctuary and Boise Rescue Mission, are able to step up to meet the likely demand.

Nonprofits working on the frontline, such as CATCH Boise and the Jesse Tree, need to be adequately funded and prepared to stave off homelessness.

Government agencies all along the line, from cities and counties to the state Legislature, must do what they can to prevent a disaster.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that phrase is no more fitting than when it comes to homelessness.

Spending a little bit of money, providing rental assistance, or even passing tenant-friendly laws and ordinances to prevent an eviction that leads to homelessness is a lot more efficient and cheaper in the long run than dealing with someone joining Boise’s growing population. The longer someone experiences homelessness, the worse — and more expensive — the effects on mental and physical health become, which ends up more expensive in the long run. The cost to re-house a family or individual is much higher than keeping them in their current home.

Preventing homelessness should be a concern for all of us.

Elevated home prices, high rents, sustained inflation, and an end to rental assistance money may prove to be a recipe for disaster.

But if we can prepare for it and help those who need it most, we can prevent some residents from heading over the fiscal cliff.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community member Mary Rohlfing.