OSWEGO COUNTY – Oswego County issued an emergency order and state of emergency proclamation on Monday related to the ongoing statewide housing crisis and its effect on local communities.
The order temporarily bans the acceptance of rental or other vouchers from New York City without prior written approval from Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup.
The move is in response to New York City’s plan to place over 110,000 homeless people in Upstate New York counties under voucher and/or assistance programs without regard to the impact it would have on local communities.
The City’s plan does not consider the limited availability of resources such as shelter, food, health care, education and transportation or the strain it would place on local governments to ensure the health and safety of its residents and any relocated people.
“Oswego County has been and continues to be a welcoming community; however, this plan poses a risk to the health and safety of our residents as well as the people it claims to be helping,” said Chairman Weatherup. “It’s simply an effort to work around our previous order related to the national immigration crisis which has caused a strain on New York City’s own resources and contributed to its homeless crunch.
“We sympathize with their situation, as we – and many other Upstate New York counties – are also struggling with homelessness issues, including finite resources and housing shortages,” he added. “However, local counties are not the answer to this problem. We need our state and federal governments to step up and find a real solution.”
Earlier this year, New York City attempted to bus its migrant population to Upstate New York hotels and motels in an effort to relieve its agencies and resources. That plan also failed to consider local impacts and several counties responded by issuing emergency orders to ban the transport and/or housing of the City’s migrant population.
In an effort to work around these continuing orders, New York City announced in September that it would expand its Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement Program (FHEPS) to provide five years of rental vouchers to city residents who agree to relocate to Upstate New York counties and Long Island.
It also opened up its Special One Time Assistance (SOTA) voucher program, which provides a full year’s rent for eligible homeless people, to include relocation throughout the entire state.
New York City further revealed that it planned to release itself from its obligation to fund any and all other supports the homeless individuals it relocates may have – including, but not limited to social services, medical needs and educational expenses.
“Oswego County struggles to house and shelter its own vulnerable residents, particularly during the winter months when all shelter housing, available motel housing and collaborative rental housing is at or near capacity,” said Weatherup. “Our homeless population is at an all-time high and our inventory of affordable and temporary housing is inadequate to handle a large influx of homeless people from outside the county.”
Oswego County’s Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher Program has issued 490 vouchers to individuals and families to fund a portion of their rent based on their income. These vouchers are currently active and will not expire unless the client leaves the program. There are also another 587 individuals or families now on the program’s wait list for housing in the county, with typical wait times in the range of nine to 18 months.
In addition, Oswego County Department of Social Services (DSS) has reported that, of the total number of people requesting its services, 142 individuals or families are currently showing up as homeless. That makes a total of 824 people identifying as homeless and requesting DSS services so far this year.
Oswego County is also concerned that rent prices offered by New York City will be higher than those typically paid within the county, encouraging landlords to displace residents currently living in their units and paying rent and further compounding the housing scarcity and homelessness problem in the county.
“We are responsible for securing the health and safety of our residents,” Weatherup said. “Should New York City send large numbers of people here for housing, their arrival will create a social, public health and emergency services crisis. It will cause an increase in homelessness and threaten the health and safety of both our citizens and any relocated persons alike.”
Emergency Order 2023-A-1 prevents individuals, businesses or other entities within the county from accepting New York City FHEPS and/or SOTA housing vouchers, either directly or indirectly, without prior written authorization from Oswego County.
Applications for authorization must identify the rental property address, the term of the lease or agreement, the monthly rent amount, the amount of the proposed New York City voucher, the name of the landlord and the name of the agent for New York City. The application must also include the legal names, birth dates, former residences and current addresses of every person to be housed at the property as well as any and all records related to services requested by or provided to those individuals by New York City.
Any person, business or entity asking to accept these New York City vouchers within the county is required to provide Oswego County with both notice and opportunity to offer an equivalent voucher to house an Oswego County Housing Choice Voucher Program or Oswego County Department of Social Services client who is looking for local housing.
Other required conditions include listing New York City as a non-tenant party on the lease or agreement and payment by New York City to Oswego County for all social services, education, public assistance, temporary assistance and other governmental costs of the person being relocated. In addition, New York City must meet with Oswego County Department of Social Services and housing officials if more than seven families or individuals are proposed to be relocated to Oswego County in any given quarter of a calendar year.
Under the emergency order, violations can result in a Class B misdemeanor and civil penalties of up to $2,000. The Oswego County Sheriff’s Office is authorized to issue appearance tickets for any violations of the order.
Emergency Order 2023-A-1 issued Monday is in effect for a period of five days, ending Friday, Oct. 6; however, it may be extended as officials assess the ongoing situation.
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