Measure A on the November ballot asks Los Angeles County voters to increase a local sales tax that funds homelessness efforts. The proposal has left many wondering: What happened to the billions of dollars L.A. taxpayers have already put toward addressing homelessness?
L.A. County officials and policy experts say the existing sales tax approved by voters in 2017 has succeeded at providing housing and services to tens of thousands of people. They also admit it hasn’t been enough to thin the ranks of the more than 75,000 Angelenos living in cars, shelters and tent encampments.
Now, voters will have to make a choice: Double the sales tax and put more resources into homelessness prevention and affordable housing development — or side with Measure A opponents who argue the county can’t be trusted to spend the money effectively.
Where homelessness tax funding goes now
In a squeaky clean industrial kitchen in the San Fernando Valley headquarters of Hope the Mission, Chef Mike Austin drops huge chunks of butter into a massive pot.
“I’m going to be making garlic butter,” he said. “We’re going to do garlic bread for the weekend.”
Every day, this homeless services provider feeds thousands of people staying in shelters across the county.
“Many of our guests are struggling with addiction,” said Rowan Vansleve, Hope the Mission’s president. “I don’t know the science behind it, but when you’re deep in withdrawal, going through that process of breaking free of addiction, sweet treats help. So every week, we bake an obscene number of cookies.”
Vansleve said a lot of the organization’s funding comes from Measure H, which L.A. County…
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