LA County spent billions on homelessness, got slammed in federal court — now they want more money

After torching billions on homelessness programs plagued by audits, missing records and murky bookkeeping, Los Angeles County leaders are now asking taxpayers to hand over even more money.

County supervisors this week voted to place a new half-cent sales-tax hike on the ballot — a move that would push the countywide rate to 10.25%, among the highest in the nation. If approved, the increase would raise the cost of nearly everything, from school supplies to appliances and car purchases.

The proposal comes just two years after voters approved Measure A, a permanent homelessness sales tax that generates more than $1 billion annually for housing, mental-health care and related services — even as the county’s spending system faces blistering federal court scrutiny over its inability to track billions already collected.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter sharply criticized the county after reviewing nearly two decades of audits documenting weak oversight, incomplete financial records and an inability to account for where homelessness funds actually went in a review last fall.

Auditors found officials could not reliably track spending or match expenditures to services delivered — making it impossible to determine whether programs were effective or even carried out.

Carter also highlighted a 2024 audit completed before voters approved Measure A but released only afterward, potentially depriving voters of key information before they agreed to the new tax.

“The people deserve to know where their money is going,” Carter said, calling the lack of transparency “deeply troubling.”

That report found more than $50 million in prior Measure H homelessness funds had been distributed to service providers without formal repayment agreements, with only about 5% recovered.

A separate court-ordered review of more than $2.3 billion in homelessness spending uncovered fractured data systems, inconsistent reporting and records so poor auditors sometimes could not determine how funds were used — or whether programs worked at all.

County officials say reforms and new tracking systems are coming.

The new tax proposal is being pitched as a way to offset potential federal health-care cuts affecting Medi-Cal.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger cast the lone dissenting vote, warning the county faces a credibility crisis.

“We are not, as a whole, credible when it comes to promises made, promises broken,” she said.

If voters approve the measure, a $100 purchase would carry roughly 50 cents more in tax — a small increase that compounds quickly on larger purchases.