On Tuesday night, the Wilmington City Council will consider a resolution allowing the city manager to apply for a three-year, $2,758,200 grant from the New Hanover Community Endowment. The city would not offer any matching funding in the current proposal.
The grant would run through two 18-month ‘cohorts’ of 50 officers each, providing an initial $1,200 monthly rental voucher which would scale up to $1,320 in 2026 and $1,452 in January to keep up with projected inflation.
Housing has been a key focus on the Endowment over the last several months. After delivering a grant round at the end of 2023 that had no housing programming, many in the affordable housing sector expressed frustration and disappointment. The Endowment has since said it’s refocused its attention on the issue — and that it’s no longer limiting itself to one annual grant round. That means that, if city council approves sending in the application, the Endowment could decide on it sooner than the end of the year.
Distribution, administration, and oversight
Officers at the rank of sergeant and below would be eligible. The police department estimates that 15% of the funding could go to sergeants, 25% to corporals, and 50% to officers. If the vouchers weren’t fully utilized by sworn officers, the program could be extended to trainees in basic law enforcement programs. Voucher recipients would be required to sign an agreement and stay in good standing with the city.
The vouchers would only be usable inside the corporate limits of the City of Wilmington, spread around the police districts:
- Downtown District – 2 vouchers
- District 1 – 4 vouchers
- District 2 – 8 vouchers
- District 3 – 4 vouchers
- District 4 – 8 vouchers
- District 5 – 12 vouchers
- District 6 – 12 vouchers
The proposal includes $125,000 each year for administration (a total of $375,000), either through an internal administrator at WPD or through a contractor, such as the Wilmington Housing Authority.
The proposal also recommends a seven-member volunteer community board representing the major districts of the city.
“This board would provide guidance, targeted measures, and serve as the selection panel for approving officer candidates. The City Council would ideally help with board membership appointment. The board should not include council members, current or former City employees, or individuals that may have a personal relationship with program participants. The police chief would sit with the board as a non-voting board member. The board would also review and make determinations in cases in which an officer may become unable to continue in the program temporarily due to administrative reasons. The board would also approve each instance of non-sworn members of the police department receiving a program voucher, due to sworn unfilled vacancies. The board would also handle adjustments in recommended officers per districts and numbers of officer participants by rank,” according to a memo provided by WPD Police Chief Donny Williams.
According to Williams’ memo, the proposal is similar to a program the city ran for officers in the 1990s.
That program “was designed to reduce crime and increase community engagement. Most of the officers in the program lived in single-family houses that were rental properties. The officers in the program were also assigned take-home vehicles. The City paid the rent to the property owner directly on behalf of the officers and allowed the officers to live there for up to two years. This program was eventually discontinued due to funding,” according to Williams.
Struggling with recruiting and retaining
According to Williams, the program will help the city recruit and retain officers, as well as increasing community safety by having additional WPD vehicles, which officers take home, spread around the city.
Williams’ memo acknowledges that housing costs in the Wilmington area have added to the department’s difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff.
“High housing costs have made it difficult to retain and recruit new officers. We have experienced candidates withdraw from our hiring process once they realize they cannot afford to live in our area. We are losing good candidates to smaller rural departments that have more affordable housing options available in the jurisdiction they serve. Recruiting is another focus area identified in the strategic plan under organizational excellence,” according to Williams’ memo.
It’s a problem impacting law enforcement and other first responder agencies around the country. Last year, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office ran up an 8-figure overtime bill, largely due to staffing shortages at the detention center.
Last month, City Councilman Luke Waddell raised concerns he said were brought to him by veteran members of both the fire and police departments — largely centered around transparency and fairness in compensation and promotions.
Related: Wilmington councilman asks city to review alleged fire and police department issues
Wilmington Fire Chief Steve Mason said he hadn't previously considered an Endowment grant for housing. He said he'd now like to see the grant proposal expanded to include all city employees.
"Prior to hearing about the WPD grant last week, I had not considered this type of request. I have been gathering information for providing additional cancer screenings for our members and am considering applying to the foundation for a grant to fund that effort," Mason said.
"I appreciate what Chief Williams is trying to do to support his officers. I would certainly like to see this grant expanded to include our members as well as employees from all departments in the City. Affordable housing, recruitment and retention of employees is a concern throughout our workforce," Mason said.
