LAKELAND, Fla. — The Mayor of Lakeland is pushing a new plan to help the more than 600 homeless people living in the city get back on their feet. He just needs to convince the city commission to fund it.

  • Plan derived from recommendations from Homelss Initiative Steering Committee
  • Recommendations would cost $195,000
  • City Commission not all convinced plan was the right one
  • Read the committee's recommendation HERE 

“Our problem in Lakeland is that our homeless issue has remained static for ten years,” explained Mayor Bill Mutz. 

Specifically, he wants the city to fund recommendations made by the Homeless Initiative Steering Committee. Those recommendations include hiring two case managers, 25 rapid rehousing slots that would provide temporary rental assistance to homeless adult applicants, and bus vouchers for the homeless to get to and from work. 

The recommendations came came out of an $80,000 study the Florida Housing Coalition conducted for the city on homelessness. In total, the measures would cost the city $195,000. 

“I think it’s very cost effective for us," Mutz explained. "We’ll probably save somewhere around three to four times as much money of the $200,000 spent for this and we’ll have a chance to measure our success."

The idea is to give some of the homeless temporary housing and transportation to and from work with the hope that they’ll get off the streets for good. 

“Government works in a lot of different areas where it helps people that are in a fog," Mutz said. "They don’t have the capability to get back on their feet, clearly. We have to have something available to do that."

To his surprise, not everyone on the commission was convinced it was the right plan when he revealed it to members during a recent agenda study on August 31. 

“I think you’d just be flushing money down the drain with this particular plan," said Commissioner Michael Dunn. "I want to be very cautious with the expenditures of our taxpayer dollars. I don’t see this being a worthy expenditure that’s going to result in a long-term resolution."

The commission will discuss whether to fund the committee’s recommendations during a budget hearing on Thursday, Sept. 6 at City Hall at 6 p.m.