As Dane county and the City of Madison prepare for the winter months, some special provisions in the 2014 city and county budgets may help the homeless get through the snowy season.

Dane County Supervisor Leland Pan, District 5, said he has seen the issue of a lack of housing for the homeless during the winter months over the past couple of years in the city. The county has been using temporary sites for the homeless in order to cope with this problem, Pan said.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said beds for homeless people in the winter are the main issue.

“The reality is, there’s just not enough beds for what they need, so homeless shelters have to limit the amount of nights people can sleep there,” Verveer said.

Veveer said nonprofit organizations that provide beds for the homeless make exceptions to their rules as to the amount of visits to the shelter the homeless can have, depending on the temperature. Veveer said Salvation Army’s Center for Women and Children and the Porchlight Center for Men, along with various churches, were examples of these organizations.

Verveer said the city has covered the cost of many of the homeless shelters in Madison for many years. Veveer said the mayor’s base budget continues funding homeless shelters and other services in Madison for hundred of thousands of dollars.

Pan said the county also has allotted $600,000 for its plans to buy a permanent site for the homeless. However, according to Pan, these sites may not be up and running for the winter months.

Veveer said the permanent resource center would only be open during the day and would not provide an additional place for the homeless to sleep.

As a result, Pan said the county took the funds intended for the establishment of this permanent site in the 2013 budget and used part of that money to create bridge services for the homeless between now and the start of the 2014 budget in January.

These bridge services provide things like showers, lockers, laundry and transportation for the homeless, according to Pan. Pan said in the 2014 budget, the county is looking to put more money into these services and carry out its plan to create a permanent resource center for the homeless.

Veveer said the budget also contains money to develop affordable permanent housing for those who may have been previously homeless. Verveer said he was one of the sponsors for some of the amendments adopted by the City of Madison as part of the 2014 budget.

“The rationale for including some of these resources is because there is such a need,” Verveer said. “We don’t have enough housing in Madison, and the homeless population is significant.”

Veveer said one of the main complaints made by many activists for the homeless is that Madison lacks places for the homeless to legally use the bathroom during the evening hours.

Veveer added $300,000 in the 2014 city budget was designated for the creation of one or more public bathrooms in downtown Madison.