LOS ANGELES – As the vote on a quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund the fight against homelessness approaches, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors promised Tuesday to create a transparent process for spending the money should the measure pass.
Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl proposed “an inclusive planning process which draws on the experience, expertise and wisdom of cities, homeless service providers and experts, the faith and business communities, formerly homeless individuals and county departments.”
Measure H, on the March 7 ballot, is expected to raise about $350 million annually for a decade. It requires approval by two-thirds of voters to pass.
Our objective here is to evidence that we are serious about accountability, serious about transparency,” Ridley-Thomas said.
The money could be used for mental health and substance abuse treatment, medical care, education and job training, as well as housing for the homeless.
“We can only succeed if we have the input and support of the very civic and community leaders who are going to help us house the 47,000 people currently homeless in the county,” Kuehl said.
The county has committed to hire an independent auditor to report on Measure H spending as well as setting up a citizens’ oversight advisory board that would track allocations.
Previous related story:
Board of Supervisors to put quarter-cent sales tax on special March ballot
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Devendra Saini says
This is serious !
I will Vote…
thanks for this admin!
Sandra says
There are already so much money and resources for the prevention of homelessness. It’s just spent the wrong way on the wrong thiings. The politicians who spend the money have no idea about what it is like to homeless and what the challenges are facing that population. True to form they don’t listen either.
The AntiRex says
Measure H will create a homeless magnet for the Antelope Valley.
Get out and vote No on H
Measure Supporter says
Unlike Rex’s deeply flawed homeless tax, which was really a tax hike to pay for law enforcement because a million dollars a year is wasted on the Eye in the Sky, this measure focuses on homelessness prevention and treatment . The facilities will be largely in Los Angeles, where the resources are, so downtown Lancaster will actually benefit.
Mr fed up says
Whats the logic in this? The county pledges 10 mollion dollars for legal aid for illegal aliens, but wants to vote on tax increase to help the unfortunate? How bout the county put the 10 million to the unfortunate and mental health, and stop taxing the people, or leta replace every supervisor once there up for reelection
barbara says
… Measure H, e.g., Eric Garcetti’s Sanctuary City Bill, is engineered for but one thing: more free stuff, for the hoodlums, the punks, the gangbangers, and the illegal immigrants. Not one homeless person will ever see one red cent, of Garcetti’s quarter cent sale tax diversion –
MAGNETLADY says
”The money could be used for mental health and substance abuse treatment, medical care, education and job training, as well as housing for the homeless.”
When has there ever been ”transparency & accountability” in the ”Taxes” raised or spent?? We are already paying 9% sales taxes, how much more do you think TAXPAYER’S are going to pay? The ”Liberals” always have their hand out, promise they’ll use the money for a specific purpose….. but where does it go??…..PENSION PLANS OR ILLEGALS!!
VOTE ”NO” on MEASURE H!!
Newman says
There has never been a solution for the homeless. Stop taking my money!
Waste of my time to go vote for this.
MAGNETLADY says
Go and VOTE…. Otherwise it will PASS.!!
10dog says
NO MORE TAXES!! Fix the roads!
Darius White says
With the Supervisors proposing “an inclusive planning process which draws on the experience,…”, with their “objective here is to evidence that we are serious about accountability, serious about transparency”, it seems to imply that all of the previous “(only) a quarter-cent sales tax increase (for 10 years)” were not transparent and/or were mismanaged. Rather than the “go to” solution for all issues being “increase taxes”, it would probably be more beneficial to conduct an “accountable” and “transparent” audit of where the hundreds of millions of annual dollars the county ALREADY receives is going. If those results were released to the public, in a manner that doesn’t require a law or accounting degree to understand, we would most probably be able to fund this “fight against homelessness” (and many other “needed” programs) without increasing any kind of tax. The “raise taxes” mantra that our elected officials freely and continually chant is akin to the corporate world attempting to solve its problems by “throwing money at it.” In a typically short time, the money runs out but the problem, in most cases, still exists but is even worse than it was