$1 million dollars in CARES Act funding to go to rent burdened Santa Cruz County residents

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Leopold asked the board to dedicate at least $1 million dollars to rent and utility assistance for residents in unincorporated Santa Cruz County.

“We need to find a way to provide this money, because there isn’t enough money coming from unemployment or one time stimulus funds to be able to support the high cost of living here in Santa Cruz,” District 1 Supervisor John Leopold said.

Leopold said those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic will be the top priority. The checks from the CARES Act funding should cover a substantial amount of rent and ideally last for more than a month.

“People are hungry. People can not afford their rent and will lose their housing," Community Action Board executive director MariaElena De La Garza said. "Our families are facing evictions now.”

Santa Cruz County is following the state's eviction moratorium, which means no evictions until at least the end of September. However, tenants will still have to eventually pay the back log in rent.

“If they can’t be evicted that’s great, but we need to actually give them financial assistance so they can actually survive,” Leopold said.

The board of supervisors will discuss the proposal at the budget hearing next week, and vote on it in two weeks. Leopold said if all goes right, renters could receive checks from the CARES Act funds by the end of the month.

“We’ll be coming out, hopefully next week, with the program details about how people can apply for it. We know we need to identify even more resources, because this $1 million dollars is just our first investment, but it won’t be our last,” Leopold said.

The county has also applied at the state level for another $1 million in assistance for its renters.