LA County Council to consider homeless measure in November – Pasadena Now

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors next week will consider putting an initiative on the November ballot that would repeal the county’s quarter-cent sales tax for homeless prevention measures and replace it with a tax sale of half a cent for an indefinite period which would be used for the same thing. aim.

On Tuesday, the County Registrar/Clerk’s Office announced that supporters of the Affordable Housing, Homeless Solutions and Prevention Now measures had collected enough valid signatures to place the initiative on the ballot.

Supporters of the measure said last month they had submitted more than 410,000 petition signatures, well above the 238,922 required.

Once the signatures are verified, the matter will go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The council will have the choice of immediately placing the initiative on the November ballot or requesting a full report on the measure, which will be submitted within 30 days to the council, which will then place the measure on the ballot.

The proposed ballot measure would repeal Measure H, a quarter-cent sales tax approved by county voters in 2017, and replace it with a half-cent sales tax to create a dedicated revenue stream in the fight against homelessness. Measure H had a lifespan of 10 years, meaning it will expire in 2027.

The proposed new measure, if approved by voters, would not have an expiration date.

Supporters say the new initiative would be a game-changer for the county and its approach to the homeless crisis. Supporters said the measure would raise $1.2 billion a year.

The coalition of supporters includes more than 80 organizations such as the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, California Community Foundation, United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, SEIU 721, among others .

They aim to focus more funds generated by the half-cent sales tax to build more affordable housing, increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment and strengthen accountability measures — including the mandatory legal to produce results.

The proposed ballot measure says 60 percent of revenue would cover the costs of homeless services and 15 percent of that would be distributed to cities based on the annual point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness. Another 35.75 percent would support the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, which was created last year by the state Legislature to oversee homelessness solutions.

“We need to fundamentally change how we address the homelessness and housing crisis, and this measure does that by focusing on mental health care, housing affordability and legal requirements for us to get results “, Miguel Santana, CEO of the California Community Foundation and alumnus of Los Angeles. Angeles City Chief Administrative Officer said in a statement.