Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says city-approved funds for homeless shelter don’t exist

MINNEAPOLIS — Without major repairs, the Agate homeless shelter in Elliot Park would permanently close in less than two weeks.

However, a recent City Council action allocating $1.5 million dollars of surplus funds, combined with matched money from an anonymous donor, is set to save the 95-bed space that serves 135 people.

Agate Executive Director Kyle Hanson said the shelter will still close on Oct. 9. After that, work will be done to repair things like plumbing and heat, while adding air conditioning.    

Hanson said the shelter will reopen in eight to 12 months.

“The City Council stepped up and made sure that we funded a shelter to prevent its permanent closure,” said Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez.
    
But Minneapolis Mayor Frey said there’s just one problem: That money is already allocated.
    
In a letter to council members Thursday, Frey wrote that the funding decision lacked proper vetting and was based on point-in-time budget projections.

The council’s action will either cut $350,000 for a Minneapolis park, or will cut city staff, according to Minneapolis’ Chief Financial Officer Dushani Dye.

“They didn’t talk to anybody that actually knows what they’re talking about with respect to the budget, and the repercussions are they ended up cutting things that they didn’t realize they were cutting,” said Frey.

“To those claims, I’ll say the money is there and if the money isn’t there, did the mayor’s administration share inaccurate information to the public a couple days ago?” said Chavez.

According to Chavez, the shelter funds are coming from surplus dollars from city departments that regularly underspend. The 2024 city budget projects underspending, he said.

While the funding was approved and Frey did not veto it, the mayor said, in his letter to council members, that his administration will work to find “…a less disruptive source of funding.”

“Our team is going to continue to dig in on this to figure out how we make lemonade out of lemons,” said Frey.