To address the Austin's escalating homelessness crisis, Mayor Steve Adler is calling on Travis County elected officials to join the city in spending millions in federal stimulus dollars on housing for unsheltered people.
Combined, the city and county governments expect to receive an estimated $442 million-plus in stimulus funds from President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan — $195 million for the city, $247 million for the county.
The total amount flowing to them is $210 million more than they received through the federal CARES Act last year, leading to ongoing discussions on both sides on how to best take advantage of a generational payday.
At least twice recently, Mayor Steve Adler in a public forum presented a case for devoting a major portion of the city's cut to homelessness services, and in the same breath challenged the county to do the same. The combined amount he estimated to solve the problem was $400 million.