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Taxpayers demanding answers after COSA agrees to nearly 450% increase in St. Francis House Funding

Action News Jax Investigates has learned the city of St. Augustine agreed Tuesday to pay St. Francis House nearly $100,000 in provisions for the homeless. The contract terms began on Nov. 1, 2018, and will run through Sept. 30, 2019.

The same services and number of beds were made available last year for just $18,000.

St. Augustine’s assistant city attorney, John Cary, tells us the agreement is necessary for the city.

St. Augustine to enforce their no camping, no panhandling ordinance downtown. Cary says there must be beds available for those without a home in order for police to uphold the ordinance.

“This allows the city to enforce the camping ordinance,” said Cary on Wednesday. “If we didn’t have these beds available at St. Francis House, we couldn’t cite people for sleeping outdoors in public parks, in public streets such as St. George.”

Some taxpayers in St. Augustine are questioning why they’re on the hook for an approximately 450% increase in costs.

“This is absolutely not a fair deal for the residents or the taxpayers of St. Augustine,” said taxpayer Wade Ross.

According to the contracts obtained by Action News Jax investigator Ryan Nelson, the city’s agreement with St. Francis House covers the cost of eight beds and additional services for 11-months, which were sponsored previously for just $18,000 over a 12-month period.

City leaders say the beds are used exclusively for people found sleeping downtown between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. by police.

St. Augustine’s budget director Meredith Breidenstein, tells Action News Jax that St. Francis House changed the way it calculated the cost per bed and services it provides.

She tells Nelson they were informed by St. Francis House the costs are now more in line with national standards and the actual costs St. Francis House had faced in providing the services to the city.

Cary says the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office previously had an agreement with the St. Francis House to provide beds for the homeless, but that is no longer the case. He tells us that may also be a factor in the cost increase. We are working to confirm this information.

“My understanding is that St. Johns County is no longer participating in this program for buying beds at the St. Francis House,” said Cary. “So the city had to pick up some of the slack on that.”

Nelson called St. Francis House and visited the shelter in person both seeking comment and to learn how exactly the new costs were calculated. We’re still waiting for a response.