L.A. County voters consider a new, higher sales tax for homeless services and ask: Where has the money gone so far?

Measure A on the November ballot asks Los Angeles County voters to increase a local sales tax that funds homelessness efforts. The proposal left many wondering: What happened to the billions of dollars that Los Angeles taxpayers have already invested in solving homelessness?

L.A. County officials and policy experts say the existing sales tax, approved by voters in 2017, has succeeded in providing housing and services to tens of thousands of people. They also admit that it was not enough to thin the ranks of the more than 75,000 Angelenos living in cars, shelters and camps.

Now, voters will have to make a choice: double the sales tax and invest more resources in preventing homelessness and developing affordable housing — or side with opponents of Measure A who argue it can’t be trusted in the county to spend the money effectively.

Where Homeless Tax Funding Goes Now

In a squeaky clean industrial kitchen in the San Fernando Valley headquarters I hope the missionchef Mike Austin puts huge chunks of butter in a huge pan.

“I’m going to make garlic butter,” he said. “Let’s make garlic bread on 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, president of Hope Mission. “I don’t know the science behind it, but when you’re in deep withdrawal, going through the process of breaking free from addiction, sweets help. So every week we bake an obscene amount of cookies.”

Vansleve said much of the organization’s funding comes from Measure Hthat L.A. County voters approved in 2017 to fund homeless services by charging a quarter-cent in sales tax for every $1 spent.

“If it weren’t for Measure H, we wouldn’t see over 2,000 people staying overnight with us tonight,” Vansleve said. “It was a game changer.”

Measure sunset H soon

But Measure H is set to expire in 2027. That’s where this year’s Measure A comes in. She asks voters to continue funding homelessness response efforts through a new half-cent sales tax. Measure A would raise about $1.1 billion every year. Unlike Measure H, the tax would have no expiration date.

Vansleve knows that for many voters, doubling this tax could be a hard sell at a time when inflation is straining budgets and numbers of homeless people remain stubbornly high.

“But the one thing that is true is that there are fewer people languishing on the streets this year than last year,” he said. “We are seeing this tide start to change. And if at some point you don’t want to withdraw the funding, that’s when it starts to improve.”

Rowan Vansleve says Measure H provides much of Hope Mission’s funding to house and house people.

What has been done so far

County authorities say Measure H placed 42,299 people in permanent housing and 80,508 in transitional housing. They say another 9,941 were prevented from becoming homeless thanks to Measure H funding.

Still, these placements and prevention efforts have not been enough to reduce homelessness. In fact, the sheer number of homeless people across Los Angeles County has increased by 37% since voters approved Measure H.

Janey Rountree, executive director of California Policy Lab at UCLA, said this is largely because for every person who gets housing, others end up on the streets.

“We constantly see people becoming homeless due to economic factors,” Rountree said. “They can’t pay rent. We don’t have enough affordable housing. Income does not keep up with housing costs.”

Measure A has prevention provisions

Rountree studied LA County’s early efforts to prevent homelessness, which currently represent a small share of spending. Last year, about 3% of Measure H tax revenues went toward prevention efforts, which ranged from tenant-owner mediation services to direct financial assistance.

Rountree and his colleagues I found evidence that financial aid makes the biggest difference. Clients who do not receive financial assistance are almost four times more likely to become homeless compared to those who receive monetary assistance.

Rountree says Measure A would significantly increase funding for preventive approaches, including eviction defense and rental assistance. When done well, she said, these efforts can save local governments a lot of money in the long run by eliminating the need to pay for more expensive street outreach and rehousing services.

“We hope Measure A can fund more programs of this type and we can test what works for whom,” Rountree said.

Polls show a tight race

In 2017, voters approved Measure H with nearly 70% support. Research shows that they are less enthusiastic about increasing funding for the homeless this time.

Professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA Michael Lente said: “A lot of people look around and say, ‘What did that money necessarily do for us?’”

An audit of tens of billions of dollars in homelessness spending in California earlier this year found that the state had failed to track the results. Locally, homeless service providers have been processed by the state for not being able to convert motels into housing for homeless people, and others were under investigation about charging for nutritious meals that were never provided to shelter residents.

Amid all the fraud-focused headlines, other homeless service providers say they have been working diligently to house and find permanent housing for thousands of Angelenos.

Lens said it’s important for voters to consider what the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles County would look like today without Measure H.

“It’s quite likely that we would be in a much worse situation right now,” Lens said. “But this is, on the one hand, difficult to prove. And two, it’s kind of unsatisfactory for the voter who says, ‘Well, the situation is still not acceptable to me.’”

Some supporters of Measure H are opponents of Measure A

The rise in homelessness – despite hundreds of millions of dollars in annual spending – has disillusioned some people. Stuart Waldman is the president of Vale Industry and Commerce Associationa business group that supported Measure H but now opposes Measure A.

“There needs to be a lot more oversight,” Waldman said. “We have to determine if something isn’t working, let’s make changes.”

Waldman said if Measure A fails, there is still time to come up with a different plan during the 2026 election before Measure H funding expires in 2027.

Another organization that opposes Measure A is the LA Alliance for Human Rightswho sued the city and county and hit an agreement this requires thousands of new shelters and mental health treatment beds. This court case also led to an ongoing audit of local spending on homelessness.

Paul Webster, executive director of the LA Alliance, said the audit will not be completed before the election. Until now, auditors have repeatedly said in court proceedings that they are fighting for Los Angeles officials to provide data on spending and results.

“They are unable to account for existing budgets and performance,” Webster said. “Therefore, in our opinion, L.A. County has not earned the trust of wealthy Angelenos.”

Proponents say Measure A would be different. It requires regular audits and detailed monitoring of results. They also note that the measure includes funding for the newly created LA County Affordable Housing Solutions Agencya body made up of elected leaders from across the region that will be tasked with financing the development of new affordable housing units.

Nycole Zamora Castellanos said this Measure H-funded shelter gave her family the stability they needed to recover from a period of homelessness.

What would happen if the money disappeared?

If voters reject Measure A, supporters say about 57,000 people currently housed and sheltered would lose their benefits and services. Many could end up back on the streets.

After living in her car for six months, Nycole Zamora Castellanos came to a shelter for families run by Hope the Mission in Woodland Hills. State funding through Project Homekey transformed this former motel into a 100-unit shelter. It now operates with Measure H funding.

“We feel stable just being here and safe — me and my kids,” Castellanos said. “We are grateful. Everyone I talk to is everything they are looking for. Get your housing, get back on your feet. That’s all they need.”

Castellanos said she recently started a new job as a home health aide. She hoped it would be the next step in finding a permanent home for her and her family.