I’m curious what the cost breakdown looks like for Duluth’s program. $80 per night per vehicle sounds high, and yes, the obvious question is why not offer hotel vouchers instead. Real bed, private bathroom, shower, HVAC.
When is the last time you were able to rent a hotel room for $80 or even $100 per night? And then the hotel proprietor takes on liability risk. Doubt if Minneapolis would get many takers.
The hotels are often in Bloomington, even though the unsheltered family might be coming from Minneapolis. The record shows Hennepin County does spend this kind of money when shelters are full, especially for families with children.
The county has a long-standing policy to shelter every homeless family with children. When demand outgrows its nonprofit shelters, it rents hotel rooms. In 2023, the county budgeted $9.7 million for family shelter, then approved another $17 million by March. That fall, it was renting 265 hotel rooms on top of its usual 119 rooms at two nonprofit shelters. Most were at a Bloomington hotel charging $62 per room per night, which was on track to receive $3.8 million that year.
The room rate is only part of the cost. Families in county shelter get three meals a day, and sites need staffing and security. In 2024, the county’s family shelter budget reached $34 million. Even at the year’s peak of 491 families, that works out to roughly $190 per family per night across the whole system. Family shelter is one piece of a larger county effort that the Star Tribune reported at nearly $200 million a year, with close to 200 staff.
So $100 a night for a managed parking space with security, restrooms, and services is not far-fetched. It is in the same range as what the county already pays to keep a family indoors.
I’m curious what the cost breakdown looks like for Duluth’s program. $80 per night per vehicle sounds high, and yes, the obvious question is why not offer hotel vouchers instead. Real bed, private bathroom, shower, HVAC.
When is the last time you were able to rent a hotel room for $80 or even $100 per night? And then the hotel proprietor takes on liability risk. Doubt if Minneapolis would get many takers.
The hotels are often in Bloomington, even though the unsheltered family might be coming from Minneapolis. The record shows Hennepin County does spend this kind of money when shelters are full, especially for families with children.
The county has a long-standing policy to shelter every homeless family with children. When demand outgrows its nonprofit shelters, it rents hotel rooms. In 2023, the county budgeted $9.7 million for family shelter, then approved another $17 million by March. That fall, it was renting 265 hotel rooms on top of its usual 119 rooms at two nonprofit shelters. Most were at a Bloomington hotel charging $62 per room per night, which was on track to receive $3.8 million that year.
The room rate is only part of the cost. Families in county shelter get three meals a day, and sites need staffing and security. In 2024, the county’s family shelter budget reached $34 million. Even at the year’s peak of 491 families, that works out to roughly $190 per family per night across the whole system. Family shelter is one piece of a larger county effort that the Star Tribune reported at nearly $200 million a year, with close to 200 staff.
So $100 a night for a managed parking space with security, restrooms, and services is not far-fetched. It is in the same range as what the county already pays to keep a family indoors.