LA City Council to consider updated bed plan for federal homeless lawsuit

The City Council is expected to consider a plan on Tuesday to meet obligations under the settlement of a federal lawsuit to have 12,915 beds available to people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles by June 2027.

Last week, the Housing and Homelessness Committee advanced a plan to create more homeless beds using time-limited subsidies. The city must open an additional 2,093 beds under a court order.

The LA City Council delayed a vote Friday on City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto's request to hire a "monitor" who would track the city's progress and use of funds under a federal lawsuit settlement requiring 12,915 shelter beds by June 2027.

Feldstein Soto has proposed contracting with former City Controller Ron Galperin and data analyst Daniel Garrie to serve jointly as the monitor in the L.A. Alliance case.

Last week, current L.A. Controller Kenneth Mejia criticized the decision to select an outside monitor. 

"The City of LA spent Millions to avoid transparency and accountability by my Office and is going to do it again to have an outside monitor keep an eye on the city's homelessness spending and efforts!" he posted on Facebook.

According to a report from City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, as of June 30, the city has 7,440 beds with another 3,776 in the process of coming online, totaling 11,216. If any of these beds are discontinued for any reason, replacement units will be needed.

To meet that gap, Szabo outlined a proposed plan consisting of 130 non-congregate beds, 1,800 time-limited subsidies and 200 recreational vehicle time-limited subsidies for a total of 2,130 beds.

Szabo proposed city officials pursue time-limited subsidies as a way to add beds because of how cost-efficient they are, noting that it would cost approximately $24,309 per year compared to millions more used for the construction of Tiny Home Villages, modular residential units, as well as leasing motels and hotels as temporary shelter sites.

City officials set aside $29.2 million to fund beds as part of the L.A. Alliance Settlement. Szabo reported another $8.021 million in additional funding will be needed for the 2025-26 fiscal year to fund required beds.

Future costs the city will need to contend with are estimated at $53.8 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year and nearly $29.6 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year.

The committee also approved amendments to order an analysis of costs per interventions to see if they can find savings from using higher-cost homeless measures. The report is intended to guide funding recommendations to meet obligations in the settlement through 2027.

Another amendment aimed to encourage affordable housing developers and property managers to accept time-limited subsidies, as well as to increase safe parking initiatives for people living in their vehicles.

In June, a federal court judge determined that the city failed to meet its obligations under a settlement agreement with the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights. U.S. District Judge David Carter ordered city officials to provide an updated plan detailing how it will create 12,915 beds for homeless residents within two years.

In court documents, Carter wrote that the city has shown "a consistent lack of cooperation and responsiveness -- an unwillingness to provide documentation unless compelled by court order or media scrutiny."

The judge had previously threatened the city with appointing a receiver to oversee homeless funding and enforce compliance with the settlement, as requested by plaintiffs. Carter ultimately declined to do so, describing such action as a "last resort."

However, Carter did institute a "monitor" to oversee compliance, who would "ask the hard questions on behalf of Angelenos," the judge had written in his order.

The case started in March 2020 when L.A. Alliance -- a coalition of business owners and residents of the city and county -- filed a complaint in Los Angeles federal court against the city and Los Angeles County accusing them of not doing enough to address homelessness.

A judge signed off on a settlement in September 2023 in which the county agreed to supply an additional 3,000 beds for mental health and substance abuse treatment by the end of next year and subsidies for 450 new board-and-care beds. The L.A. Alliance filed papers alleging the city was not meeting its obligations.

An independent court-ordered assessment filed in March was unable to verify the number of homeless shelter beds the city claimed to have created.

Additional reporting by City News Service.