Boston Mayor Marty Walsh addresses the media outside Boston City Hall on March 15, 2020. State House News Service photo
Boston is dedicating $5 million in city funds to help city residents and businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic – $3 million to help Bostonians who are at risk of losing their housing pay rent, and $2 million to help the city’s smallest businesses pay rent, payroll and other working capital expenses.
Applications to the Rental Relief Fund and Small Business Relief Fund will be available on Monday.
To be considered for up to $4,000 per person in rental assistance, applicants must be city residents and must either not be eligible for the new, extended unemployment benefits offered by the federal government or, because of the nature of their job, the unemployment benefits that they will receive represent a significant reduction in their actual income. The funding will only be available to households earning less than 80 percent of area median income, or $72,000 for a two-person household. A significant portion of the fund is reserved for Bostonians making less than 50 percent of area median income, or $42,000 for a single-person household.
To qualify for the small business loan program, a business must have fewer than 35 employees and less than $1.5 million in annual revenue, and be and operating in Boston.
“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a national crisis at a scale not seen in our lifetime, it is imperative that all levels of government exercise all possible tools to ensure the health and safety of our residents, and to keep them stably housed,” Walsh said in a statement. “As a key piece of legislation [barring evictions during the pandemic] makes its way through the State House, it is our hope that this funding will offer immediate financial relief to renters in Boston who otherwise would be unable to make their rent payment. We understand that this resource is critical to have in place not only for economic reasons, but also to protect the public health.”
According to estimates generated by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council for the city and released along with the announcement of the rental fund, there were 10,900 renter households in the first wave of unemployment applications filed by Bostonians in the week ending March 21. Around 148,000 Massachusetts residents filed for unemployment that week, followed by another 180,000 the following week.
