A study found Columbus and Franklin County could save more than $20 million annually if both continue a $6 million program that gives free representation to low-income tenants facing eviction proceedings.
The pilot program was approved by Columbus City Council about two years ago using $1.5 million between a mix of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and other city monies. Those funds also commissioned a study on the potential benefits of free representation.
The study found for every dollar spent on providing free representation to income-eligible tenants, the city and Franklin County could save $4 in costs related to homelessness, healthcare and other social services.
Columbus City Councilmember Shayla Favor helped ferry the legislation through council and presented the results of the study on Thursday.
"It feels great for us to be here at this point in time. And that's a measured level of excitement, because what we are talking about is the livelihood of residents in Columbus and Franklin County," Favor said.
The study, done by Stout Risius Ross, LLC, estimates implementing a fully functioning eviction right to counsel program would cost a total of $6.1 million annually. The firm proposes the city taking $5.1 million of that cost and the county taking $1 million of that cost.
The study said this could help 4,964 income-eligible tenant households in the county get free legal representation on eviction cases. According to eviction tracker website Eviction Lab, in 2023 Columbus had nearly 24,000 eviction filings compared to about 18,000 in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and federal aid money and eviction moratoriums were put in place. Both metrics set new records for eviction filings in each year.
"Still holding that record is not something that we should be proud of at all," Favor said.
The $24 million the study estimates the program could save the city and county government comes from a variety of places. For example, the study said education costs, juvenile justice costs and child welfare costs that are associated with children experiencing homelessness would be lessened.
According to the study, costs associated with putting homeless people in jail by lessening the number of homeless people on the street would also be helped. It would also mean less eviction cases would be filed, meaning less cases in the Franklin County Municipal Court.
The study also listed savings that are harder to quantify that are incurred by specific people facing evictions and homelessness. This would have an impact on credit scores, preserving financial and personal assets.
"What this report does is affirm what the city of Columbus has been doing to address housing insecurity, (thinking about) our housing crisis from another perspective," Favor said.
Evictions are rising and so is homelessness in Franklin County. The 2024 point in time homelessness count found more than 2,300 people were experiencing homelessness, which is an all time high. The 2023 Franklin County point in time count found a 22% increase, compared to 1,912 people counted the year before.
Favor said costs of rapid re-housing and emergency shelter are costly services. She said emergency shelter alone on an annual basis for one individual is about $15,000. The city recently had to help shelter more than 1,000 residents and many Haitian migrants that were evacuated from the Colonial Village Apartments.
The American Rescue Plan Act funds that helped create this program will soon run out, and many cities and counties that received state and local relief funds will face decisions on whether or not to cut or keep funding these types of programs.
Favor said commissioning the study was a way of thinking ahead to build evidence to eventually justify investing in this type of program after the funds run out.
Favor also said the plan is to hold public hearings in the near future and eventually a vote could be held to determine the program's fate.
