Supporters of a half-cent sales tax measure that would fund more shelters, affordable housing and addiction treatment for the unhoused in Los Angeles County launched their campaign on Thursday, Sept. 5 in the courtyard of a nonprofit housing facility in North Hollywood.
Backers from nonprofit homeless service providers, clinicians, labor unions and formerly homeless individuals delivered passionate messages, waved signs and chanted slogans asking voters on Nov. 5 to vote “yes” on Measure A.
“Measure A is about moving forward,” said Yvonne Wheeler, president of the LA County Federation of Labor. “If Measure A does not pass it would lead to a 28% increase in homelessness in LA County. We can’t go back.”
The measure, known as the Affordable Housing, Homelessness Solutions & Prevention Now initiative, would repeal Measure H, the quarter-cent sales tax in LA County passed by voters in 2017 for homeless services and replace it with a half-cent sales tax for the same purpose. This measure raises the tax by one-quarter of a cent, and will produce a perpetual revenue stream.
Measure H has a 10-year lifespan, meaning it is set to expire in 2027. The proposed measure would not have a sunset date. It also could deliver nearly three times as much revenue. Measure H produced about $355 million every year, while proponents say Measure A would generate $1.2 billion annually.
The coalition of supporters includes more than 80 organizations such as the L.A. County Federation of Labor, California Community Foundation, United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, SEIU 721, among others.
They aim to focus more funding generated by the half-cent sales tax to build more interim and affordable housing, while increasing access to mental health and substance abuse treatment. They say the measure bolsters accountability and includes a legal requirement to deliver results.
However, this new measure is picking up opponents.
In May, the head of the Los Angeles County Business Federation, commonly known as BizFed, raised concerns, saying that while business leaders are committed to supporting efforts to combat homelessness, with three years left on the Measure H tax, this proposal is “rushed” and would result in a “forever tax.”
Also the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is opposed to the measure and wrote the official ballot argument against it. “The city just like the state has wasted every dollar spent on homeless so more dollars are not going to help,” said Craig Mordow, general counsel with the group on Thursday.
Supporters say the new measure is not written by government or politicians but by experts and citizens. It increases accountability and transparency, while giving housing and service providers more money to do the job, the say.
Measure H dollars have funded two LA Family Housing homeless services access centers that help the unhoused with documents and applications for housing and jobs. LA Family Housing Service outreach teams, which are mostly in the San Fernando Valley, have reached 4,000 people in the past year, and of those, 86% participated in services, including permanent housing, said Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO.
LA County recorded 75,312 homeless people from the January 2024 homeless count. This is almost the same as the 75,518 people recorded in 2023 and welcome news after homelessness jumped by 9.1% between the 2022 and 2023 counts. The number of people living in shelters rose by 12.7%.
The coalition of Measure A supporters say the new measure will expand programs that move homeless individuals from encampments into treatment, interim housing or shelters. Also, it will make it easier to build affordable housing for permanent residency.
Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO of the LA Family Housing, speaks at a kickoff for Measure A, the half-cent measure in LA County for homeless services, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (photo by Steve Scauzillo/SCNG).
Klasky-Gamer emphasized the measure provides money for preventing people from becoming homeless, something Measure H does not do, she said.
“In 2023, for every 100 individuals who transferred out of the streets, 125 new people fell into homelessness,” she said in her remarks before more than 100 supporters. If it does not pass, LA County will see a double digit increase in homelessness, she predicted.
Under Measure A, people dangerously close to being turned out onto the street for failing to pay their rent or who suddenly are facing a large rent increase they can’t afford, can get help, she said.
“It allows us to add services, including homeless prevention services,” explained Klasky-Gamer during an interview. “Prevention could include cash assistance if you’re not able to pay your rent. Or prevention could mean we can target folks experiencing chronic health conditions, including substance abuse.”
Adding dollars for mental health services is something Amberlee Ayala, a mental health nurse with the county’s Department of Mental Health, can get behind. She rattled off a few success stories, including re-uniting a man with mental illness with his family after he spent 15 years on the street.
But too often, mental health beds are not available to bring those who are homeless and also need treatment off the streets and the county is trying to add more beds.
Some who are temporarily housed run the risk of returning to the street, when treatment dollars run low. Many living in temporary housing stay a lot longer than prescribed because the supply of affordable, permanent housing doesn’t match the need.
Outside the LA Family Housing facility in an industrial section of North Hollywood, a small group of tents with tarps lined the east side of a nearby side street west of Lankershim Boulevard. One woman who once lived in temporary housing said she lost her room after she spent some time with her son in the hospital. When she returned, her room had been filled.
The woman, in her early 30s, who asked to remain anonymous, was back on the street. She said she has tried to get into temporary housing for almost a year. “There is a waiting list to get in,” she said.
A man who did not give his name and identified as the woman’s boyfriend, has been living in temporary housing for nearly two years. He believes soon he will have to leave. Once back on the street, he fears getting a citation from the police and eventually being sent to jail.
“If we did not get Measure A passed, there are thousands of people every year who would be removed from their housing, and falling back into homelessness,” said Klasky-Gamer.
SCNG Staff Writer Linh Tat and City News Service contributed to this article.
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