The Tri-City Herald reported today that Pasco was granted about $400,000 from the federal government to help with foreclosures. Psssst – here’s the thing – it’s not really an issue.
As the city manager, Gary Crutchfield said,
It’s a good opportunity to address the relatively small problem that we have…
Pasco was the only one of the Tri-Cities to receive money from the program designed to help communities struggling with high foreclosure rates. That’s probably because it was ranked highest among the Tri-Cities by LISC, which stands for Local Initiatives Support Corporation. They “developed scores for cities and counties based on requirements for the national program”. Here’s the breakdown –
RICHLAND, 1.1 %
KENNEWICK 1.54%
PASCO 1.77%
Compare that to the entire state of Washington where “1.42 percent of loans are in foreclosure, including 2.19 percent in Pierce County, 2.69 percent in Tacoma, 2.44 percent in Yakima and 1.52 percent in Spokane, according to LISC.”
So, compared to the entire state, both Pasco and Kennewick have a higher percent of foreclosures, but they’re certainly less than in other areas of Washington, and the nation (close to 3%), as well.