Housing Board Deliberates Best Use of Decreased Funds

MOSCOW – The Fair & Affordable Housing Commission opened 2026 with officer elections and a brainstorming session for the year’s plans in light of funding reductions.

At Thursday’s regular meeting, the board unanimously reelected Chair Eija Sumner and elected Juan Albaitero as vice chair and Nathan Tupper as secretary.

Commissioners unanimously voted to investigate ways to use the board’s limited resources in 2026 and to bring their findings to the Feb. 5 regular meeting. 

“Our budget is severely cut this year,” noted Lucy Falcy, city planner and staff liaison to the commission. 

The budget history she compiled for the commission showed annual budgets of $1,800 or $1,900 for the past six years, and $750 for FY 2026. Commission spending during those years was $250 to $470, with $81 spent in 2025. Expenses included training, travel for training, outreach and supplies. The board also contributed $470 to a state fair housing analysis in FY2022.

University student outreach

The annual spring Health and Wellness Fair will not be hosted this year by Latah County, Moscow and the chamber of commerce, so the housing commission will lose this opportunity for education and outreach.

The board intends to staff a table at the Moscow Farmers Market in September and also considered outreach at the annual University of Idaho Palousafest to welcome students in August. The commission’s target audience is renters and landlords, and it was noted that students make up most of Moscow’s renters.

The commission mentioned buying an ad in UI back-to-school mailers or publications with some kind of, “Student renters, know your rights,” message.

Tupper offered to revamp the board’s fliers, in particular to focus on students. Commissioner Jennifer Wallace suggested the board devote its limited resources this year to printing more fliers for local outreach, since training, travel and educational events typically are more expensive.  

Education and training

Due to federal funding cuts, the nonprofit Intermountain Fair Housing Council, headquartered in Boise, has no grants available and has limited ability to assist local efforts, such as its previous partnership with Moscow in training in April, which is National Fair Housing Month. 

“With the money it has, the IFHC has a legal obligation to fund discrimination cases first,” said Commissioner Jo Ellen Force, who is the Moscow commission’s representative to the council. So funding for commissioner education or commission-hosted training likely will not be forthcoming.

The IFHC holds a quarterly meeting next week, and the Moscow commission tasked Force to ask if the council could provide training virtually or if it has other ideas of how to share fair housing education and information locally. 

Commissioner Albaitero agreed to talk with the Latah County Board of Realtors about helping fund training, especially since local realtors and property managers can earn continuing education credits via such events.

Assessment and priorities

The commission requested that Force also ask the IFHC how many complaints of housing discrimination it received from Moscow or Latah County in 2025.

Falcy suggested the commission might use most of its curtailed budget to help fund a local fair housing analysis, especially since the last update was done before Covid and much has changed since. 

She also asked newly seated City Council members Evan Holmes and Sage McCetich, who were present as members of the public, to ask the council for more direction about its desires for commission priorities and spending.