Rock County Supervisors Fail To Pass Polarizing Eviction Aid Resolution

The Rock County Board during last night’s meeting failed to pass a resolution that would give tenants American Rescue Plan Act funds for legal aid in the event of an eviction.

The resolution would have allocated $444,000 in legal aid to tenants to deal with evictions. No money would’ve directly gone to tenants, but rather, to assist them in finding the necessary resources.

The debate continued throughout about how to get tenants and landlords to the same table. One lawyer who spoke said that Rock County was soon to expect a “flood” of evictions as the moratorium ends. There was 1 eviction for every 700+ residents in 2020 in Janesville, but the rate was much higher in Beloit, where it was 1 in 242. Rock County also has higher rates of judgment than most, at 1 in 5 people, about 12% of the rest of Wisconsin. One supervisor described their experience “couch hopping” when they were temporarily homeless and came out in support of the bill. One supervisor called the county “a bunch of ogres” and asked for numbers as to how many families are being assisted by renters assistance. That number is 450-500 in Janesville, where the tenants pay about 30% of their rent and the rest is covered. Beloit has a similar program but also has public housing.

After about an hour of debate, one supervisor brought the question forward as to whether or not they were ready to vote. It passed by a 22-3 margin and the vote commenced. There were 4 supervisors of the 30 absent from the meeting, and those votes would affect the outcome, of which ⅔ majority or 20 votes were needed. The final vote was 18-7. There was some confusion over whether this meant the bill passed or failed as it was initially announced that it had passed, but it was finally determined it did not because it did not get the 20 yes votes necessary, according to Clerk Lisa Tollefson.

The board went into executive session after the ARPA Fund vote.

Outside of this decision, the board voted to upgrade the 911 center, went through a brief training seminar, and unanimously passed an amendment to provide Human Services with funds for dementia aid as well as a separate amendment for the Urban Youth project. The Board also passed a resolution that would develop ways to better serve the county's housing needs through funding a study. This would primarily focus on the 1-2% vacancy rates and the low to moderate income housing. It passed 23-2.