
Thea Agnew-Benben
78:14 - 78:39
"I think as we move into really this, the months before budget season, I think we also need to have a conversation about what it looks like to reduce this system. And I'm not saying that because I personally want that to happen. I'm saying it because this is an area that has grown very significantly in the last 5 years in our budget."
“I think as we move into really this, the months before budget season, I think we also need to have a conversation about what it looks like to reduce this system. And I'm not saying that because I personally want that to happen. I'm saying it because this is an area that has grown very significantly in the last 5 years in our budget.”
This is a bigger topic, but I wanted to bring it up here because it's going to keep coming up. I think I appreciate the picture of kind of what would it cost to fund this whole system. I think as we move into really this, the months before budget season, I think we also need to have a conversation about what it looks like to reduce this system. And I'm not saying that because I personally want that to happen. I'm saying it because this is an area that has grown very significantly in the last 5 years in our budget.
The Anchorage Assembly's Housing and Homelessness Committee heard Sunday that the 2026 Point-in-Time Count recorded 291 people sleeping outside, a 28% decline from 2025, while municipal shelters operated at 100% capacity and administration officials estimated the need for 100 additional year-round beds at an annual cost of $2.45 million.
