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Los Angeles Spends $837,000 To House Just One Homeless Person

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Taylor Giles Contributor
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Los Angeles is reportedly spending as much as $837,000 per housing unit to house the city’s homeless population.

The units are part of Proposition HHH, a program that will cost the city $1.2 billion, according to a story published Wednesday by the Associated Press (AP). Voters previously approved the project in 2016.

An audit found the number of units built so far under the program to be “wholly inadequate” by Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin, reported AP. Roughly 1,200 units have been completed so far.

The audit uncovered that 14% of the units built under the plan cost over $700,000 each, with one project costing nearly $837,000 per unit, AP reported.

“Let’s be clear: Prop. HHH is producing more units than promised, at a lower cost than expected,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted Wednesday. “There are already 1,200 units online providing critical housing and services.”

The HHH project is set to build 8,091 housing units for the homeless via 125 projects, according to the outlet. Funds outside the program will be used to build another 2,369 units. (RELATED: Los Angeles Accused Of Hiding Homeless Crisis For Super Bowl Weekend)

Garcetti approved around $10 million in 2013 to aid the homeless, AP reported. In 2021, the city’s budget included roughly $1 billion in spending for the homeless.

“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, reported AP. The city must “find new ways to scale up faster and cheaper projects.”

The city of Los Angeles did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller for comment.