By a 4 percent margin, Measure H barely slid to victory last night. But proponents of the initiative that tackles homelessness in Los Angeles are celebrating nonetheless.
Along with the voter approved Proposition HHH, which passed on the November ballot, Measure H finally gave L.A. lawmakers the green light for an aggressive, 10-year strategy against homelessness.
While the county has a basic outline of how Measure S funds will be disseminated, there has yet to be an official budget.
A panel of 50 county officials, city lawmakers, and nonprofit experts will iron out the nitty gritty details, Phil Ansell, the head of the county’s Homeless Initiative, told the Los Angeles Times.
By hiking the sales tax by a quarter of a cent, Measure H is projected to raise about $355 million per year over the next 10 years. HHH already instituted a $1.2 billion bond measure to build 10,000 units of permanent housing for the homeless, and now the additional funding will go toward supportive services attached to those units as well as rental subsidies for existing housing facilities.
Backers of the measure said that within five years, the measure will house 45,000 homeless families and individuals into permanent housing and prevent 30,000 more people from becoming homeless.
“Measure H revenue will enable the most comprehensive plan to combat homelessness in the history of Los Angeles County,” Ansell said. [LAT] — Cathaleen Chen