Monrovia council proceeds with Victorian restoration, affordable housing project
Pasadena Buddhist Temple celebrates completed “Healing and Hope” mural
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Thursday, March 26-April 01, 2026
Local. Relevant. Trusted.
VOL. 14,
NO. 268
City Controller: LA didn't spend at least $473M on homelessness in FY '25 By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
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he city of Los Angeles spent about half of the money it had available to address homelessness during fiscal year 2025-26, according to the City Controller's Office on Monday. The '25-26 homelessness budget for the city of more than 3.8 million residents was $961 million, or about $1.1 billion when adjusted for additional appropriations and unspent dollars that carried over from the prior years. The city spent $516 million along with $119 million encumbered, meaning that money dollars has been committed but may or may not end up being actually being used, according to Controller Kenneth Mejia's report. The remaining $473 million went unspent. Most of the unspent homelessness money comes from special funds, which are usually get rolled over to the next fiscal year to spend
again on efforts to reduce homelessness and provide assistance to people living on the streets or experiencing housing insecurity. During fiscal year 2024-25, LA did not spend more than $500 million of the $1.3 billion homelessness budget, the controller's office reported. Last fiscal year, the city spent $599 million. According to Mejia, the money went unspent money because: Funds that won't be spent until later years such as some state grants that include the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program won't be used until future years; Affordable housing development funded by Measure ULA can take up to three years for the city officials to approve projects; Delays in approvals for spending plans and contracts related to Measure ULA tenant protections,
Los Angeles City Hall looms over a nearby homeless encampment. | Photo courtesy of Ron Reiring/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
defense and assistance; Lack of staff and resources regarding city departments' homelessness
spending to fully utilize budgets; and Homelessness efforts are decentralized without
a single department overseeing efforts, resulting in additional delays. "For the second year in a row, the city ended up spending much less on homelessness than it promised," Mejia said in a statement. "Often, most of the unspent money is rolled into the next year's budget, but there are risks that some funds may be lost to other budget priorities. People need housing and services today, not a year or two from now. "The large homelessness budget leads the public to believe that the City is spending much more on homelessness than it actually is, increasing the public's expectations and causing frustration when results inevitably do not align with the budget," Mejia added. He recommended that Mayor Karen Bass and
the City Council revise the homelessness budge's configuration, suggesting that they should only appropriate funds that are expected to be spent for the coming fiscal year and also properly categorize expenditures related to homelessness. The City Controller's Office is the first entity to formally track city homelessness spending, starting in fiscal year 2024-25, Mejia said. He also recommended that any state HHAP grants be included or listed in the homelessness budget along with when the money will be spent. Unspent Measure ULA dollars should be clearly communicated with the timelines for acquisition and rehabilitation of affordable housing and tenant related services, according to Mejia.
See Homelessness 02
State AG: El Monte school district ‘consistently mishandled’ abuse claims By Staff
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alifornia Attorney General Rob Bonta on Friday announced a proposed stipulated judgment with the El Monte Union High School District over inadequate handling of student's abuse allegations. The District systemically violated laws and regulations in place to protect
against and address these types of allegations and complaints, including the California Education Code and the Child Abuse and Neglect and Reporting Act, according to investigators from the California Department of Justice. The stipulated judgment permanently prohibits the
EMUHSD from violating these and other sexualassault laws. The settlement also requires a minimum of four years of oversight by the court and Attorney General's Office, and it includes wideranging reforms to prevent, stop and remedy sexual harassment, assault, or abuse on the District's seven
El Monte campuses. “Every child deserves to learn and grow in a safe and supportive school environment. Unfortunately, our investigation found that this has not always been the case for students enrolled in El Monte Union High School District," Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a
statement. “Across multiple years, the District consistently mishandled students’ complaints of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse by District employees and others. In doing so, it jeopardized the safety and wellbeing of its students and See Abuse claims 35
violated the community’s trust. Today’s settlement marks a beginning, not an end. I am hopeful that the District will move swiftly to implement the reforms required by this settlement, and my office will be monitoring closely to ensure its