Escondido plans to expand rental support to help people with low incomes stay in their homes.
The City Council directed staff last month to update spending plans to increase the amount people can get in rental assistance, boost the number of people who can get it and expand the program to people of all ages. It was previously only available to people over the age of 65.
The council is expected to vote on a finalized version of the plan March 4. Leading up to that decision, city staffers have said they will share information about the plans with residents and create opportunities for public input.
The changes were first discussed at a City Council meeting last month. Public speakers at the meeting were universally in support of the proposed changes.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” resident Richard Cannon told the council. “Research clearly shows that preventing homelessness saves cities substantial amounts of money.”
The council members pointed to the need in the community for housing support as they discussed the changes. There are 876 Escondido residents receiving vouchers through the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, better known as Section 8. An additional 5,276 residents are on the waiting list.
“That’s mindboggling to me,” Councilman Joe Garcia said about the numbers.
The city has $590,369 in federal housing funds in its 2025-26 annual action plan created to tell the federal government how it’s using the money. Currently, that’s split up as $59,037 for administrative costs, $88,555 for community housing development organizations, $72,000 for rental subsidies and $370,777 in an unallocated housing fund for first-time homebuyers and affordable housing development.
The new plan would essentially flip the amount set aside for rental subsidies and the housing fund, increasing the amount for rental subsidies to $388,000 and dropping the housing fund to $54,777. The lower amount in the housing fund would be enough to support at least two homebuyers a year, which city staffers said is more applicants than they typically get. However, it could also limit the city’s capacity to support affordable housing development projects.
The additional money for rental support would allow the city to increase the number of households served from 30 to 80 and increase the amount of support available for those with the most financial need. The update would increase monthly subsidies from $200 to $400 for households at the lower end of the area median income.
The city also plans to implement a new program to help residents with rental, deposit and utility costs using leftover federal housing money from 2017 that will be reclaimed by the federal government if not used this year.
“It’s really important that we help our own residents,” Councilmember Judy Fitzgerald said. “I like the model of expanding the program.”