Residents earning as much as $141,550 eligible for taxpayer-funded rent relief in California city

In a California city where the school district asked for community members to rent rooms to teachers who they said couldn't afford housing, a person making $141,550 is eligible for a rent and relief program paid by taxpayer dollars.

The city of Milpitas is spending $950,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan on its rent and mortgage relief program "to help low- and moderate-income residents who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic." The program was launched in December.

Households can receive up to $5,000 in rent relief and up to $15,000 in mortgage relief in the program. To qualify, participants must have suffered an economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A household of four people could have an income of up to $202,200 and still qualify.

The Milpitas Unified School District made national news when it asked community members to offer up rooms to rent for its teachers who it claimed could not afford to live in the area. The district didn't respond to emails asking if any community members had rented rooms to teachers.

Milpitas is located in Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley and some of the most expensive home prices in the U.S.

The typical home in Milpitas was valued at $1.4 million as of Nov. 30, 2022, according to Zillow. Just seven miles away in Weibel, the median home value was $2.29 million according to Zillow.

The median household income in Milpitas was $149,312 from 2017-2021 according to the U.S. Census.