Over $600M in tax dollars will start rolling in soon under Measure A. Here’s how you can weigh in

L.A. County voters recently approved a sales tax increase to fund homeless services, affordable housing and resources to help low-income renters keep their homes. Now come the decisions on how it should be spent.

A spending proposal is scheduled to be discussed at a public meeting at 2 p.m. today (Thursday, Feb. 13), which allows public comment remotely or in person. (Here’s a link to the agenda.)

The money will start rolling in soon — the quarter-percent sales tax increase approved by voters under Measure A goes into effect April 1.

The county’s latest proposal for spending the first $656 million of that Measure A money is available here: [Click here to read the proposed spending plan, which starts on page 12.]

What’s in the plan

The plan includes a number of changes to funding, including:

• A $30 million annual increase for an intensive case management program for people in permanent housing, from $77 million to $107 million. Those services include eviction prevention and linking people to services for physical health, mental health and substance use disorders.
• Deep cuts — to about $1.8 million annually, from $8.4 million — to funding for the LA:RISE program, a city- and county-run program which helps unhoused Angelenos get and keep jobs.
• Cuts $1.5 million annually from a $3.5 million L.A. County Public Defender’s Office program that provides mobile legal clinics to help unhoused Angelenos expunge criminal records. As a result, county staff say the program’s outreach staff are expected to be downsized by one-third.

While Measure A raises the sales tax for homeless services and housing, the first spending plan has an overall cut in spending. County officials say that’s largely due to cuts in state grants and consumers spending less on items subject to sales tax.

How to weigh in on the plan

To participate in public comment, you can speak in person at the county Hall of Administration room where the meeting is taking place, or by raising your hand virtually if attending remotely. (More details here.)

The proposed plan is then scheduled to go before the county Board of Supervisors on March 25.

The tax measure has five main goals, which are required to be tracked and publicly reported. The specific metrics that will be used to track performance must be decided by April 1, according to the county.

The goals that voters approved when this was on the ballot back in November are:

1. Increase the number of people moving from encampments into permanent housing to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
2. Reduce the number of people with mental illness and/or substance use disorders who experience homelessness.
3. Increase the number of people permanently leaving homelessness.
4. Prevent people from falling into homelessness.
5. Increase the number of affordable housing units in L.A. County.

Share your thoughts with LAist

LAist wants to hear what you think about the proposal.

What stands out to you? What questions do you have? What kinds of outcomes and accountability do you want to see tracked? What would you like to understand better about this proposed budget?

We plan to publish a summary of what we hear. We welcome your thoughts in the box below.