LA Is Spending Up To $837,000 Per Unit To House The Homeless

Are you wondering why so many people are defecting from places like California in favor of tax havens like Florida? Look no further for your answer, which likely lies in how states are spending their tax money.

Take Los Angeles, for example. It was reported last week that the city is paying up to $837,000 per housing unit to try and house the homeless.

It comes as part of a broader $1.2 billion effort to house the homeless, which KTLA reports is “is moving too slowly while costs are spiking”. 

So far, about 1,200 units have been built since the spending was approved in 2016. An audit issued by city Controller Ron Galperin, however, calls this number “wholly inadequate” in the context of the homeless crisis, KTLA reported. 

Galperin said that the effort “is still unable to meet the demands of the homelessness crisis.” In the meantime, homeless camps have spread into “virtually ever neighborhood” in LA, the report notes. 

His audit revealed that prices for the building have, in some cases, soared to “staggering heights.”

“While future plans have not been finalized, building tens of thousands of additional units using the same model will likely cost billions of dollars and will take far too long to match the urgency of the ongoing homeless emergency,” the audit said. 

But Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti has defended the program, stating that it is “producing more units than promised, at a lower cost than expected.” He commented that “There are already 1,200 units online providing critical housing and services. And HHH will deliver over 10,300 units of supportive and affordable housing by 2026.”

As if the $800,000 price tag wasn’t enough, one observer pointed out how the price has mysteriously risen over the last couple years. Must just be inflation…

Only Los Angeles could spend $500,000… I mean $600,000… I mean $700,000… I mean $800,000 to build a single shelter unit while simultaneously growing the homeless population exponentially. pic.twitter.com/Atka6WQVWW

— Kevin Dalton (@NextLAMayor) February 25, 2022