The Multnomah County board is expected to approve a novel use for tourism dollars this week: Paying for services to help homeless people find housing.

While the mayor is expected to announce Tuesday that the city has identified all 1,300 units that the Portland housing bond is expected to deliver, the county vote two days later would secure the second half of the promise -- services for mental health, addiction, employment and other challenges that people who are homeless face when trying to stay in housing.

The services are essential to the permanent supportive housing model, which officials maintain could make a dent in Portland’s growing population of people who have been on the street for at least a year and struggle to stay in housing, if they get it.

The idea of using tourism dollars for such needs has gained traction nationally as cities grappling with severe housing shortages look for ways to help people who have been displaced by steep rents.

The board will vote Thursday to amend an agreement between the county, city of Portland and Metro regional government over how funds from the 2.5% tax on hotel rooms and rental cars is used. Traditionally, the money goes toward boosting tourism through marketing and improving facilities, such as the Oregon Convention Center or Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

A few years ago, though, county Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury learned from the chief financial officer at the time that the tourism fund was ballooning because of an influx of tourists. At the same time, she also felt inundated by complaints from business owners and hotel operators who complained that the growing population of people living on the streets was hurting business.

“It seemed, really, to me, like an obvious next step,” Kafoury said.

She convinced officials at the city and Metro, who also have to approve any change to the tourism funds, that using the money for homelessness was a good fit.

They both approved the change at the end of last year. However, Kafoury held out.

Everyone agreed to a sharp increase to the amount that goes to services annually. Currently, the county receives $750,000 as its share.

If approved, the county will get $2.5 million in 2020, which will increase each year up to $5.25 million by 2023.

But Kafoury was worried that the new homeless services fund would get cut in an economic downturn. Both the city and county have increased their contributions to the Joint Office of Homeless Services each year, and Kafoury has made cuts to other departments to direct those dollars at homelessness.

The sticking point slowed progress and raised tensions between the county and the other two jurisdictions. Former Metro Council President Tom Hughes placed pressure on the county when the council passed its version of the agreement to accept the wording, arguing it was on the county to decide if it wanted the additional money or not.

“Without this agreement that doesn’t go forward,” Hughes said in 2018.

However, Kafoury said Monday that between the Portland and Metro housing bonds -- voters approved $653 million in 2018 -- general fund money won’t be able to cover a growing need for services as those units are built.

She is finally confident that the agreement is written to protect those funds. It also has a provision that allows a jurisdiction to object if there is a cut to services in the future.

“Because if they are using it to fund permanent supportive housing," Kafoury said, “we really need these dollars to be permanent.”

The tourism money likely won’t cover the full cost of services as supportive housing units are built long-term, but she said that the ability to work out an agreement shows that the county, city and Metro have a strong partnership.

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com | 503-294-5923 | @MollyHarbarger

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