For the first time, L.A. County's homelessness sales tax is providing dedicated funding directly to all 88 cities — a key selling point of Measure A that was supposed to empower local leaders to tackle the growing crisis in their own communities.
But some local leaders say they're still getting shortchanged.
The new half-cent sales tax is expected to generate about $1 billion annually for homeless services and affordable housing in L.A. County. That includes about $96 million this year for the county’s new Local Solutions Fund, a pot of money divided up between L.A.’s municipalities.
Officials from some smaller cities told LAist residents are paying way more into Measure A than they’re seeing spent on their streets.
“There is still an imbalance between what our residents contribute and what comes directly back to our community to address homelessness locally,” said Tracey Sullivan, community preservation manager for the city of Santa Clarita.
Santa Clarita’s taxpayers will contribute an estimated $21.8 million this year under Measure A, she said. The city is getting $476,000 from the local solutions fund, according to L.A. County’s full breakdown of the allocations.
“They deserve to see their dollars reinvested directly into our community and the impact they make,” Sullivan said.
The city of Torrance is expected to generate about $26 million annually through the Measure A half-penny sales tax, but will receive about $559,00 in local homelessness funding, according to the city’s mayor, George Chen.
“We strongly believe that allocations should be more proportional to each municipality’s tax contribution and to the level of homelessness services already in place,” Chen said.
The frustration echoes concerns these cities had with Measure H, the previous quarter-cent sales tax that Measure A replaced last year. That’s why Measure A was different, including some dedicated local funding, according to Carter Hewgley, senior director at L.A. County’s Homeless Initiative.
“ I think the Local Solutions Fund is recognizing that we hear your frustrations, and that it really matters for communities to have some agency in how their own community serves its most vulnerable members,” Hewgley said.
Smaller cities say it’s still not enough. With many cities now facing budget shortfalls, those dollars are sorely-needed. Burbank is getting about $309,000 this year through the new funding stream.
“The current amount of funding is not adequate to support the programs and services needed to address the city’s homeless,” said Kasey Lee, Burbank’s housing development manager.
How the funds are divvied up
As the county’s largest city, Los Angeles is getting roughly $55 million this year from the fund, or 57% of the entire local solutions fund. Long Beach is getting about $4.9 million and Lancaster $2.4 million.
Smaller cities with far fewer unhoused residents are pulling in far less. Ranchos Palos Verdes is allocated about $38,000 through Measure A’s local fund, and Manhattan Beach is getting $41,ooo.
The specific funding formula to determine which city gets what was approved by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in March — after fierce debate. County officials considered various funding formulas, with cities favoring the option that afforded them the most funding.
The county ultimately approved a formula that is based mostly on a city’s official point-in-time Homeless Count results from the past two years.
The remaining 10% of the funding formula is based on the number of extremely low-income households in the city, as reported by census data. That’s meant to reflect people at-risk for homelessness, unhoused students and people living with others who aren’t counted in annual tallies, according to county officials.
This formula could change in future budget years, but that would require approval by the Board of Supervisors.
How cities are using local funds
While the funds have been allocated and are already being spent by some cities, others are still working to finalize their plans.
Some are using their new county dollars to keep shelters or other services open that would otherwise be lost to local budget cuts.
The city of Los Angeles is spending the entirety of its $55 million to keep 1,100 existing shelter beds open that it would probably have had to cut, according to county officials.
Pasadena is using its $867,000 primarily on rental subsidies, to prevent dozens of renters relying on federal housing vouchers from losing housing.
Hundreds of federal rental vouchers are expiring in L.A. County, as a COVID-19 pandemic era infusion of emergency funding sunsets. The Trump administration has proposed deeper cuts to housing vouchers which would affect thousands in the region. Those cuts are still being negotiated in Congress.
Cities can use their allocations for whatever homeless solutions they want, including shelter, permanent housing, outreach and prevention services. The eligible use guidelines are rooted in the language of Measure A, Hewgley said.
But there’s some things it won’t cover, and the county has been working those details out with several cities, officials said. For example, if a city proposed to clear a tent encampment, their local solutions dollars could pay to provide shelter to the displaced encampment population, but it would not cover debris removal. The city would need to cover that with another source of funding.
Burbank officials said the guidelines don’t allow enough flexibility.
“The biggest concern regarding Measure A and the Local Solutions Funds are that the eligible uses are narrow,” Lee said.
Torrance is using its dollars mostly to operate a 40-bed tiny homes village. In addition to fair funding, Mayor George Chen said he wants the county to prioritize more Measure A dollars for treatment facilities for substance abuse and mental illness.
“Without a substantially higher and more predictable funding stream, cities like Torrance cannot plan and budget for the long-term operations required to stabilize and serve unhoused residents,” he said.
Santa Clarita is splitting its funding between two local nonprofit service providers that recently opened new homeless shelters. The city’s officials said there needs to be more transparency around Measure A, so that residents can clearly see how money is spent and if results are achieved.
L.A. County’s Hewgley said the county will be tracking how each city uses its funds, and eventually publishing that information in a public database.
In addition to the local funding for homeless services, Measure A will soon give L.A.’s 88 cities separate dedicated local funding for affordable housing development.
Santa Clarita, which gets $476,000 for homeless services, expects to get nearly $3.5 million in additional Measure A funding through the new L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency.
