L.A. County Re-Confirms Use of Measure H Revenue for New Programs

by Gary Toebben

Two weeks ago, this Business Perspective alerted readers that the County of L.A. was considering using Measure H revenue to back-fill an October 2015 commitment to increase its general fund allocation for housing and services for the homeless by $100 million over several years. This motion in October 2015 was heralded as strong leadership by the County in addressing the growing homelessness crisis.  

This commitment in October 2015 was followed by a “maintenance of effort” commitment in February 2017 that was unanimously passed by the County Supervisors. The intent of this motion was to assure voters that the new revenue generated by Measure H would not be used to back-fill previous general fund commitments to housing and services for the homeless or any other County services.

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles and the California Community Foundation joined with the Chamber in sending a letter to the County Board of Supervisors opposing the proposal to back-fill the October 2015 commitment with new Measure H revenue.  Other Measure H proponents spoke up as well, including this op-ed by the Inner City Law Center in the Daily Journal.  

Last week, L.A. County reiterated its “maintenance of effort commitment” and said it would not use Measure H revenue to backfill the $100 million general fund commitment it made to housing and homeless services in 2015. The County’s action was welcomed by all who vigorously supported the passage of Measure H.  

Join me in saying thank you to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. They kept their word and the promise we all made to the voters of L.A. County. We are still waiting action on the City of L.A. budget and their ongoing allocations for housing and homeless services separate from the new bonding authorized by Measure HHH. Thank you for joining us in speaking up.

And that's The Business Perspective.