There are 47,000 homeless people living on the streets of Los Angeles County, and more than half of them live in the city of LA.
Critics say local leaders have been unable to effectively address the underlying problems that lead to homelessness, including mental illness, addiction and skyrocketing rents.
A bond measure on November’s LA city ballot bills itself as part of the solution.
Proposition HHH is supported by LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and advocates for the homeless. It would generate an estimated $1.2 billion to fund permanent supportive housing projects for those living on the streets. These are apartment complexes that also offer services to recently homeless people, from counselors and psychologists to primary health care physicians and support groups.
The money would come from city property owners in the form of an additional tax, about $10 per $100,000 of property value per year. Because it’s a tax measure, it requires two-thirds of LA city voters to approve it.
However, critics of the measure say city property owners should not be footing the bill for these projects and that the homelessness problem is due to a failure of city and county government.
So what do these permanent supportive housing projects actually look like? And who would live in them?
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