The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday on the November ballot to include a measure that would increase the quarter-cent sales tax to raise money for homelessness prevention measures.
It will be up to voters to decide whether to replace the quarter-cent tax with an indefinite increase in a half-cent sales tax for the same purpose.
Voters passed Measure H in 2017which approved the county’s quarter-cent sales tax.
Supporters of the new measure said they had submitted more than 410,000 petition signatures, well above the required 238,922.
The ballot measure would repeal Measure H and replace it with the half-cent sales tax, directing the revenue to address homelessness. Measure H had a term of ten years and was due to expire in 2027.
Those who support the new initiative say the additional funding would be a game changer for the province’s homelessness crisis as it would generate $1.2 billion annually.
Supporters say the money would be used to build more affordable housing, expand access to mental health and substance abuse treatment, and strengthen accountability measures, including a legal requirement to deliver results.
The proposed ballot measure notes that 60% of revenues would cover the costs of homeless services and that 15% of that amount would be distributed among cities based on the annual number of homeless people at a given time. Another 35.75% would support the LA County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, which was created by the state Legislature last year.
