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RESOLUTION NO. <br /> <br />6590-91 <br /> <br />BY: Gallagher, George, <br />Graham, Roth, Smith <br /> <br /> A RESOLUTION to recognize the critical role that the <br />Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) plays in providing <br />crucial assistance to millions of households in meeting their <br />energy needs. <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, LIHEAP is a needs-based income supplement <br />program serving only very needy households, of which nearly 60 <br />percent have annual incomes of $6,000 or less; and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, more than one-half of the households that <br />receive LIHEAP monies are the working poor or elderly, and most <br />LIHEAP households do not receive any other type of public assis- <br />tance; and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS,' there is every indication that more families <br />will be threatened with falling into poverty as the economy <br />worsens; and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, 1,047 households within the City of Lakewood <br />received $128,781.00 in benefits from LIHEA~ in fiscal year 1990; <br />and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, the cost of energy for home heating will <br />continue to increase with the level of inflation; and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, prior to a recent modest increase in funding <br />for LIHEAP this fiscal year, the program had been cut by <br />one-third (from $2.1 billion in FY 1985 to $1.443 billion in FY <br />1990) despite the obvious need to increase energy payment <br />assistance, and the deep cuts eliminated a million poor <br />households from the program while LIHEAP benefits were also <br />substantially reduced; <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, Ohio's appropriated share of LIHEAP monies has <br />been reduced from $105.8 million in FY 1986 to $78.2 million in <br />FY 1991; and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, the cumulative total reduction of LIHEAP <br />funding amounts to approximately $2.8 billion since FY 1985; and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, the FY 1992 budget request for LIHEAP would <br />cut its funding from a combined total of $1.61 billion for FY <br />1991 to $925 million with a $100 million contingency fund based <br />on a trigger of fuel prices, and that said cut would be a 43% <br />reduction, eliminating millions of poor families from the <br />program; and <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, the FY 1992 budget request <br />sions a gradual-phase out of the LIHEAP; and <br /> <br />apparently envi- <br /> <br /> WHEREAS, the LIHEAP continues to be a needed program <br />for the needy and poor of the City of Lakewood; and <br /> <br /> <br />