By: Beau Russell
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – On Monday, April 10, Benton County announced that they received $2.4 million in rental assistance funds from the American Rescue Plan.
These funds will go towards organizations in Benton County that will financially assist renters that meet low-income requirements. Should the county have excess funds from this payout, the remainder of the money will go to Washington County.
The American Rescue Plan, the source of these funds, is a program created by President Joe Biden to assist low income Americans in order to revitalize the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 financial impact. Rising rent prices in the U.S. have been a problem for a long time.
Rising Rent and Stagnant Salaries
Currently, the federal government defines “rent-burdened” as someone who spends more than 30% of their income on rent. Statistically, the average American is currently spending more than 30% of their income on rent, meaning that most Americans are currently “rent-burdened.”
The issue of rent prices is especially prevalent in Arkansas, with a recent report by America’s Health Rankings showing Arkansans as “severely” rent burdened, indicating that more than 10 million Arkansas residents are spending over 50% of their income on rent.
This problem becomes more troublesome when taking into account a broad look at the price of housing in the U.S. over the last fifty years. Taking inflation into account, the cost of living has increased by 118% since 1965. Unfortunately, wages have not kept up with this rise in prices.
During the same time span, wages have only increased 15%.
American Rescue Plan
Following the lockdown created by Covid-19, the burden of rent became a crisis in the United States. In response, President Biden created the American Rescue Plan to begin to address this issue.
In an overview of the plan, it said that it intends to “provide emergency aid to cover back rent. In addition, the bill provides assistance to help struggling homeowners catch up with their mortgage payments and utility costs through the Homeowners Assistance Fund. And, it provides additional funding for families and individuals who are recovering from or at risk of homelessness.”
The investments made by this plan have funded numerous rental assistance programs in the United States, which now include those in Benton County.
A list of rental assistance programs in Benton County can be found here.