LA to track homeless budget after $513M went unspent
LA to track homeless budget after $513M went unspent
The LA City Council passed a motion to track the city's spending on homelessness.
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday called for an analysis of homelessness spending and the creation of a public database of homeless-related programs.
What we know:
In a 12-0 vote, council members instructed staff in coordination with the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority to report within 60 days and quarterly thereafter on a comprehensive breakdown of L.A.'s homelessness budget, including reimbursable costs, committed funds, expenditures, and underspending on programs and contracts related to homelessness.
Council members Bob Blumenfield, Imelda Padilla and Monica Rodriguez were absent during the vote.
The analysis would examine spending under Inside Safe, LAHSA contracts, safe parking, and street medicine teams, among other things.
The City Council also asked Controller Kenneth Mejia and his team to build an online database to publish and regularly update homeless spending data.
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Council members Nithya Raman, Katy Yaroslavsky and Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced the motion on March 14. The Housing and Homelessness Committee later advanced the proposal.
By the numbers:
In the past two fiscal years, the city has allocated a significant amount of funding to address the homelessness crisis. In FY 2023-24, the city allocated a combined total of $1.28 billion to homelessness.
In a November 2024 report, however, the City Controller found that the city had not spent at least $513 million in funding. The report cited an inefficient city approach, a lack of staff and aging technology as contributing to the issue.
During a news conference in North Hills on Tuesday, Mayor Karen Bass said she supported the City Council's plan. She noted that her proposed 2025-26 budget will continue investments to address homelessness, providing $900 million overall for that endeavor, of which $100 million to support Inside Safe.
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City officials contend their investments have resulted in the first decrease in homelessness in the city in recent years and are on track to continue that trend. Recent data from the 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count found a 10% decrease in unsheltered homelessness and a 17% increase of unhoused people entering shelters.
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What they're saying:
"Currently, there are multiple council committees through which reports about spending on homelessness programs are reviewed and analyzed, but the council lacks a comprehensive resource to guide and inform budgeting and spending throughout the fiscal year," the motion reads.
Raman noted that a court-ordered audit by Alvarez & Marsal highlighted a need for centralized financial oversight and real-time monitoring. Their audit analyzed city financial and contracting data with LAHSA from June 1, 2020 through June 30, 2024.
In other efforts to better track performance outcomes of homelessness programs, the City Council established a new bureau in the Housing Department to track dollars and ensure results from service providers.