Mayorproposal trims homelessness budget while counting Inside Safe motel rooms toward Alliance targets

The mayorproposed homelessness budget for fiscal 2025-26 totals roughly $904 million, City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo told the Los Angeles City Council Budget and Finance Committee on May 1.

Szabo said the figure is lower than the adopted FY24-25 total of $951 million mainly because of reductions in other departments and changes to the Bureau of SanitationCare+ program. He said the proposed budget relies on about $300 million from the general fund and more than 20 other sources including grants and special funds.

The proposal assumes the city will report many Inside Safe motel rooms as compliant with the Alliance settlement and bill Los Angeles County for services. "We are starting to count and report to the court all of the Inside Safe beds as compliant," Szabo said. He said the city will begin billing the county for services for those beds in January 2025 and that the county reimbursement recognized in the FY25-26 budget is about $39 million.

Why it matters: counting motel rooms toward the Alliance obligation reduces net long-term costs for the city if the county reimburses services, but it leaves the city on the hook for front-end payments. Council members focused questions on how the shift changes outreach and hygiene services and on whether reductions in street outreach would leave gaps in coverage. Councilwoman Rahman told the CAO she wants memos showing the…