Los Angeles County officials asked residents Monday to help shape how money from voter-approved half-cent sales tax will be used to fund the new Department of Homeless Services and Housing launches next fiscal year.
County supervisors approved in April a plan to create a centralized department to address homelessness and siphon over $300 million from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to the new agency. LAHSA, a joint LA County and city agency, received sharply critical audits that cited issues including inadequate monitoring of contractors who provide services to unhoused residents and failure to alleviate the homelessness crisis.
LAHSA officials have disputed the criticisms and said the agency improved data tracking, including establishing internet-based tools for increased public transparency.
Over 72,000 people were experiencing homelessness in LA County with nearly 44,000 in the city of Los Angeles, according to the 2025 LAHSA point-in-time count. The county and city noted 4% and 3.4% decreases, respectively.
Nearly $1.08 billion from Measure A is set for allocation in 2026-27, with $642,000 for homelessness services and the remaining funds for housing.
Ten online Zoom meetings set to take place from Sept. 5-18 will focus on a Measure A spending plan for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
“The driving force behind this new department is increasing accountability and streamlining bureaucracy to stretch our dollars further,” according to a county statement. “This an opportunity for us to work together to decide how to shape the future of our homeless response and housing system.
“Your voice matters in guiding how we align resources to meet the unique needs of people experiencing homelessness in our region,” officials said.
Meeting registration and more information is available at homeless.lacounty.gov/fiscal-year-2026-27-measure-a-spending-plan.
County staffers were expected to complete a spending plan in November and present the draft in December. The Board of Supervisors will approve or reject the plan in May as part of the county’s recommended budget.
Last fall voters approved Measure A, a half-cent sales tax for affordable housing and services for people experiencing homelessness that replaced Measure H, a quarter-cent sales tax that would have expired in two years.
In July, LAHSA’s governing board appointed Gita O’Neill as the interim chief executive. O’Neill, the assistant Los Angeles city attorney who handles homelessness policy, replaced LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum. She resigned after leading the agency for two and half years.
O’Neill’s 12-month contract starts Aug. 26.
With Adams Kellum at the helm, the agency touted a reduction in unsheltered homelessness for a second consecutive year.
The county’s new homelessness department was expected to start operating by Jan. 1, with Measure A funding transferred from LAHSA to the county agency by July 1, the start of the 2026-27 fiscal year.
The county was also expected to move hundreds of LAHSA staffers to its homelessness department.
