Los Angeles has poured more than $1 billion into homelessness programs, but the city still can’t account for hundreds of millions of dollars in spending — a spending headache Mayor-elect Nithya Raman will inherit.
A new report presented Tuesday revealed that the city had spent or committed just $368.9 million of its adjusted homelessness funding by March 31, leaving $636.1 million unspent or not yet committed.
The findings put a spotlight on the sprawling homelessness bureaucracy Raman has pledged to audit as she vows to cut street encampments by at least 50% before the 2028 Olympics.
LA has 45,194 homeless residents, including 29,115 living on the streets, despite years of massive taxpayer spending on shelters, housing and other programs.
“We want to ensure that we are tracking every dollar, filling every bed, and delivering the results that Angelenos deserve across every neighborhood,” Raman told The California Post and other reporters Tuesday at City Hall.
The scope of the spending challenge emerged in a 23-page report presented to the City Council’s Homelessness and Health Committee.
The city initially approved $953.3 million for homelessness programs in fiscal year 2025–26. Additional funding subsequently pushed the total above $1 billion.
But by March 31, just $368.9 million had been spent or committed, according to the report.
City officials said roughly $441 million of the remaining funds was earmarked for multiyear programs, while other money had yet to be assigned to specific uses.
The report also exposed wide differences in how quickly city agencies were putting the money to work.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which oversees shelters and other services, had spent or committed $165.5 million of its $243.4 million adjusted allocation.
The city’s Housing Department, meanwhile, had recorded just $56.4 million in spending or commitments against $238.1 million in funding.
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That department’s allocation includes housing construction and tenant assistance programs, which can take years to complete.
Raman is no stranger to the system she’s about to inherit.
She chaired the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee for three years.
Raman also co-sponsored the motion demanding the comprehensive spending report raising questions about how the city tracks its homelessness dollars.
Now Raman will be responsible for managing the same sprawling system she spent years scrutinizing.
On Tuesday, she outlined plans to fill empty shelter beds and move homeless residents into permanent housing faster.
“Right now we have a number of beds and facilities across our city that are not all used. Our first step is to use what we have now,” Raman said.
She also took aim at the enormous expense of keeping homeless residents in hotels and motels, sometimes for more than a year.
“People are staying in our shelters, including at very expensive motels and hotels, for a year or more, costing enormous amounts to the city,” she said.
Raman pledged to improve case management and expand the use of housing vouchers to move people into less expensive, long-term housing.
But despite her repeated criticism of Mayor Karen Bass’s Inside Safe, she made clear that the program’s central strategy of clearing encampments and moving people indoors will continue, even if the name changes.
“It may not be called Inside Safe anymore. It may not look exactly the way that that program looks, but encampment resolution will continue,” she said.
The motion was continued on Tuesday, meaning the committee will take it up again at its next meeting.
