Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to place a measure on the November ballot that would double the county’s homeless sales tax to half a cent to fund housing and homeless services.
If approved by voters, it would replace Measure Ha 25-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2017 and scheduled to be eliminated in 2027.
this alternative measures The measure – formally known as the “Affordable Housing, Homelessness Solutions and Immediate Prevention” measure – qualified for the ballot last week after backers backed it set Over 390,000 signatures. Dean Logan, the county’s registrar-recorder, predicted about three-quarters of them would be valid, enough to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
The board voted 4-0 on Tuesday to put the measure up for a vote without any changes. Supervisor Janice Hahn was not present.
“We are nowhere near enough housing for low- and moderate-income people in Los Angeles,” board President Lindsey Horvath said at Tuesday’s meeting. “There’s no time to waste.”
The tax is expected to generate about $1.2 billion annually, which will be used for affordable housing, mental health care and substance abuse treatment, and other homeless services. It also requires tax-funded programs to be audited and set targets to ensure funds are spent on initiatives most likely to get people off the streets.
Supporters said at Tuesday’s meeting that they learned lessons from Measure H and believed this latest sales tax would stretch the dollar more effectively. It would also make the tax indefinite and can only be repealed through a future vote.
“The crisis we face today is not for a lack of trying,” California Community Foundation CEO Miguel Santana told the board. “This will lead to long-term, systemic and responsible change.”
Faced with constituents outraged by lack of progress on homelessness crisis, county supervisors pitch success Measure H said the measure has given the county an infusion of cash, saved more than 30,000 people from homelessness and placed more than 100,000 people in permanent housing.
“We have receipts,” said supervisor Holly Mitchell.
The measure is supported by a coalition of housing providers and labor groups, including SEIU 721 and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Yvonne Wheeler, the federation’s president, told supervisors she believed the tax would bring more affordable housing to workers and better protect them from eviction.
No one expressed dissent on Tuesday, although some experts raised objections expected There may be anti-tax groups coming out to oppose the measure.
“I want to remind everyone that there is still a lot of work to be done to pass this bill in November,” said Dexter O’Connell, director of Safe Place for Youth, a homeless services agency. Tell the board.
