Albemarle County eviction protection fund facing budget cuts

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - Albemarle County supervisors may be making big changes to the Pathways Fund, a program that’s designed to keep families from being evicted from their homes.

This year’s budget has $1.5 million in support, and next year’s proposed budget cuts that down to $260,000.

Gustavo Espinosa works for the Legal Aid Justice Center. He says the Pathways Fund is critical for the tenants he works with every day.

“It wouldn’t last more than two months, and we need something that’s going to last the whole year,” Espinosa said. “They’re just one crisis away. If somebody, if one of the income earners gets sick, or if there’s only one income earner, and their hours are cut, they might not be able to make rent that month. And that’s all it takes.”

Instead of reducing the funding, he wants to see it increased.

On the other hand, Supervisor Chair Donna Price Notes that the board gave no money to the program before the pandemic.

“Taking us from two years ago, contributing nothing towards it, to a proposal of $260,000 next year. I believe we all recognize that that or any of the other contributions to social programs are not sufficient to solve all of the problems, but they are in part important contributions towards providing assistance in those areas,” Price said.

Last year, the majority of the money came from the American Rescue Plan Act and the CARES act. That money is no longer available.

“If we’re looking to increase funding anywhere, then we either have to cut funding to a different program or programs or we have to raise the property tax rate. And I do not believe that there is a view on the part of any supervisor to look to change things around dramatically,” Price said.

Espinosa still says they should change things. Ideally, he would like to see Albemarle commit $2 million to the Pathways effort.

“The county needs to find the money to invest in this, because otherwise, families will suffer the consequences. The whole county will suffer the consequences,” Espinosa said.

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