An alliance of civic groups is gathering signatures to place on the November ballot a measure that would double Los Angeles County’s homeless sales tax to a half-cent to raise more funds for housing, prevention and Services.
If approved by a majority of voters, it would replace Measure H, the quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2017, two years ahead of its 10-year expiration date to transition slowly.
Supporters estimate it would produce $1.2 billion a year.
The money would be used to fund programs for the homeless, including mental health care, substance abuse treatment, affordable housing, rental subsidies, employment counseling, and services for vulnerable populations, including homeless families, veterans, abused women, seniors and people with disabilities.
The measure, called Affordable Housing, Homelessness Solutions and Prevention Now, would require programs to set and meet specific goals and mandate regular audits to ensure those with the highest effectiveness rates receive sufficient funds.
“We see it as critical to empower and ensure that we have some sort of system in place to address the affordable housing and homelessness crisis over the long term,” said Miguel Santana, executive director of the California Community Foundation and one of the measure’s five named backers.
Supporters formed a campaign committee, Experts United to End Homelessness, and have been collecting signatures since December. They plan to file their petitions with the clerk before the May deadline to qualify for the November ballot, campaign manager Derek Mazzeo said.
Many philanthropic leaders, labor unions, and homeless service providers lined up to support the measure, who played key roles in the success of the campaigns for Measure H and the city’s 2016 HHH Proposal to fund bond measure housing construction.
In addition to Santana of the California Community Foundation, the measure will include Elise Buik, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, and three leaders of homeless services and nonprofit housing organizations: Veronica Lewis , founder and current board member of Homeless. Outreach Program Integrated Care System (HOPICS); Andrew Kerr, co-founder of Housing Works; and Edgar Campos, executive director of TRUST South LA
Service Employees International Union Local 721 also supports the campaign.
Santana, the former Los Angeles city administrative officer, authored the city’s groundbreaking homeless strategy in 2016 and later chaired the committee overseeing the city’s $1.2 billion proposal. HHH homeless housing bond proposal. He said the new measure was designed to take advantage of past experience.
“For someone like me who has worked on these issues throughout my career, this reflects the lessons learned from Measures H and HHH. »
When passed in 2017, Measure H’s quarter-cent sales tax was expected to produce about $355 million annually. This amount had increased to $527 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
The measure, which passed with just over the required two-thirds majority, included a 10-year sunset clause to allow voters to decide whether it should be extended.
The electoral law has since been amended, allowing a simple majority to pass tax measures introduced by citizens, not governing bodies.
Supporters of the initiative said their decision to double revenue and make the tax indefinite – subject to repeal only by a future public vote – reflects that there is no foreseeable end to a crisis of homelessness which has only gotten worse in recent years.
“The reality is that this is a systemic change in how to provide mental health and other support services to help people access housing, and there is no end on this,” said Sarah Dusseault, one of the drafters of the measure.
The Angeleno Project, a nonprofit that supports the measure, released a poll Tuesday that showed likely support from 60 percent of likely voters, with 39 percent of respondents saying they would definitely support it, 15 percent saying they would. they would support it but could change their mind, and 6% say they lean yes.
What the poll, conducted by David Binder Research, “reflects is that Angelenos haven’t given up yet and think more needs to be done,” said Santana, who also co-chairs the project Angelino.
The Angeleno Project was formed by the Committee for Greater LA, a coalition of civic leaders who are grappling with proposals for “radical systems change” to improve the lives of vulnerable and marginalized communities in Los Angeles.
A breakdown of the survey results showed even higher support for specific elements of the measure: increasing mental health treatment for people experiencing homelessness (82%), preserving existing affordable housing (78%), reducing the cost of building affordable housing and housing for the homeless. (77%), reducing the burden on local emergency services (74%), creating pathways out of poverty through construction (74%), and building more affordable housing (72%).
The increase in temporary housing, such as motel rooms and small houses, fell to the low end with 50% support.
At this early stage, there is no formal opposition to the tax proposal, but anti-tax groups who may oppose the measure could take a soft-sell approach, capitalizing on discontent among voters for the government’s past efforts, said Vice President Lance Christensen. of education policy and government affairs at the conservative-leaning California Policy Center.
“Voters are wondering how much more taxpayer money is going to be spent on failure,” Christensen said.
Noting the slim margin of victory for the recent statewide Homeless Bond Measure Proposition 1, with little spending in opposition, Christensen suggested donors might be thinking, “S ‘They can pay a few dollars more than they did with Proposition 1, they will succeed in voting. this down.
Supporters of the measure said they designed it to make the strategy for using the funds more results-oriented and incorporate more explicit accountability than in Measure H.
“What makes this different from the past is that it’s a citizen initiative,” Santana said. “It really draws on our best thinking based on all of our experience and lessons learned.”
The 20-page ballot measure specifies that 60 percent of the revenue would be directed to homeless services and 15 percent of that would be distributed to cities based on the annual count at any given time.
Another 35.75 percent would go to the LA County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, a new entity created last year by the California Legislature to help people stay in their homes and increase housing and shelter for people homeless. The money could be used for rental assistance, purchasing or leasing existing housing and new construction.
The new county housing agency is organized along the Metro model with a 22-member board of directors made up of the five members of the county Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and two City Council members from Los Angeles, mayors and council members from seven other cities. and representatives from philanthropic, legal, and housing organizations.
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