The City of Hoquiam will roll sales and use tax money set aside for affordable housing into a county pool, giving the fund more financial leverage in exploring larger funding mechanisms to increase the availability of affordable housing countywide.

The Legislature passed House Bill 1406 earlier this year, which allows local jurisdictions — counties, cities and municipalities — to keep a portion of the sales and use tax normally sent to the state for the purpose of investments in affordable housing.

It’s a new resource to pursue improvements in the availability of affordable housing “without enacting a new tax or levy,” Grays Harbor Public Health Housing Resource Coordinator Cassie Lentz told the Hoquiam City Council Monday.

The legislation gives cities the option to keep the funds or roll those funds into the countywide fund. In numbers provided by Lentz Monday, Hoquiam would receive about $12,000 from the program. If all nine municipalities agree to pool with the county — Westport already has and Elma and Ocean Shores are looking into it — the county fund would collect more than $160,000 annually.

Lentz said by combining all the county’s funds into one, she hopes to encourage nonprofits and developers to invest in local affordable housing. The larger fund gives the county more leverage in attracting that investment. The legislation allows for some of the funds to be used for operating costs of affordable housing properties, which are “many times the missing piece” when seeking investment in affordable housing in the region, said Lentz.

The Hoquiam City Council unanimously approved putting the city’s funds with the county’s.

“This is a good opportunity to leverage what would not be a very large sum by pooling with the county,” said Ward 2 Councilman Steven Puvogel.

This affordable housing funding is separate from a similar program funded by collection of a recording fee when documents are recorded with the county. That also addresses homelessness and the two are very much entwined, said Lentz.

“Affordable housing is both the single biggest contributor to the increase in homelessness, as well as the biggest solution out of homelessness for the clients we work with,” she told the council.

The county is developing an “affordable housing pipeline,” said Lentz, which will set standards for awarding the funds.