Chelan County allocates nearly $1 million in CPIF funds

Chelan County commissioners awarded nearly $1 million in grant funding to three affordable housing projects and a new firefighter training center in Manson.

Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed legislation expanding the use of these funds to include projects that supported permanently affordable housing. The legislation, sponsored in part by Sen. Brad Hawkins, passed and was signed into law in March, allowing Chelan County and other municipalities to consider CPIF applications from housing authorities or housing trusts. The expansion of the definition of public facilities to include affordable workforce housing infrastructure or facilities was highly supported by Chelan County commissioners to help address the area’s critical housing shortage.

Commissioner Kevin Overbay said the recently passed legislation opened a new door for communities like Chelan County that are experiencing a dwindling supply of affordable workforce housing.

“When awarding public grant dollars, the county looks at where we could make the biggest impact,” Overbay said. “The housing projects that will receive CPIF funding serve communities from Chelan to Leavenworth to Wenatchee. We appreciate that the Legislature recognized the importance in giving communities more flexibility when deciding how best to use these resources to build up our local economies.”