Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released a report on Thursday that revealed the city spends over $1 billion addressing the issue of homelessness. However, the number of homeless people in the city has increased by 10% during the last year.
The report estimates that there are 46,260 people homeless in Los Angeles. Homelessness has been on the rise for the last year, but at a slower pace than in previous years. According to the Los Angeles Times, under former mayor Eric Garcetti alone, the city spent more than $1 billion a year on homelessness. This grew to $1.3 billion per annum under Mayor Karen Bass.
Bass told the LA Times that “the challenge is enormous, but we’ll continue to work urgently to bring Angelenos in.” We must maintain our momentum, and we can do this by working with leaders from all levels of government to tackle the crisis like it’s an emergency. “Lives depend on it.”
Bass’ budget for this year proposes purchasing hotels and motels in order to turn them into homes for the homeless. Bass also wanted to buy a $69 million luxury hotel to house homeless people a few short years after the renovation.
According to the LA Times, Va Lecia Adams Kellum said that “there’s much more to be done to right the ship” in a Tuesday briefing.
She said, “The results were disappointing but not unexpected. “We thought that last year’s figures would flatten the curve. What we see is that the people are still in a vulnerable situation, where they are falling into homelessness quicker than we can accommodate them.
Bass’ office didn’t immediately respond to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment.
