The number of hurricane evacuees at Camp Williams continued to drop Wednesday, as 37 people moved into new residences along the Wasatch Front.

The state, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County have committed $100,000 each to pay upfront moving costs and up to four months' rent for the Katrina survivors, pending reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Richard Walker, director of the Utah Department of Community and Culture.

Beginning today, a local moving company will start furnishing the evacuees' new digs with donated items, including 150 beds, linens and mattresses from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and blankets from the Utah Food Bank.

"A lot of these people are just willing to move into an empty apartment and sleep on the floor," Walker said. "We don't want to do that."

The state expects to place 340 evacuees in homes and apartments, including 152 families. FEMA is expected to pay rent for the evacuees for 12 months, Walker said. After that time, those who qualify for public housing will have to apply for assistance through local housing authorities.

Initially, local advocates feared evacuees would be given priority over the hundreds of Utahns already waiting for housing assistance. However, federal funds will take care of the evacuees, Walker said, erasing the need to tap into local housing resources over the long term.

"We were never really planning to do that; we don't want to displace people," Walker said.

Although the majority of evacuees are expected to remain in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, other housing authorities throughout the state have received a few applications.

In Ogden, five families have applied for assistance, and each has been given priority over other applicants on the city's short waiting list.

"We've always had disaster preference for any natural disaster, and it's really been a very valuable tool when a disaster happens," said Lin Fulcher, special programs manager for the Housing Authority of Ogden City.

In cities with much longer waiting lists, however, like West Valley City, the idea of bumping evacuees to the top of those lists, even temporarily, rubs some people the wrong way.

Director Layne Morris has been very outspoken in making sure all of the people on West Valley's three-year waiting list get their needs met before the evacuees.