LA to pay $80 per bed nightly for interim housing beds

Starting Jan 1., the city of Los Angeles will pay a rate of $80 per night for interim housing beds, which some homeless service providers say will help keep their operations from falling under, it was announced Friday.

In a 12-0 vote, the City Council approved the new rate for interim housing beds. In part, the new rate will cover more staff and improved services, according to Matt Szabo, city administrative officer.

"We have to make sure that sites which have not seen increases in rates in many, many years throughout a period of high inflation are not going to shut down in the next few months, which is a real threat," Councilwoman Nithya Raman said, chair of the council's Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Council members John Lee and Monica Rodriguez opposed the new rate, while their colleague Imelda Padilla was absent during the vote.

They argued the rates should be increased to $69 per bed per night, which would retain services.

Current bed rates range from $40 to $60 depending on the program, such as overnight safe parking, bridge housing, winter shelter or tiny home village, among others. Crisis housing for families cost the most at about $99 per night or $115.50 per night at a motel.

Rodriguez criticized the existing system, citing an ongoing failure from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and service providers in being transparent and forthcoming with data.

"We can never get a direct answer for the services that are being provided," Rodriguez said. "I can't continue to aid and abet this broken system that is squandering taxpayer dollars, particularly at a time when we have a severe budget crisis."

Raman recognized the "righteous criticisms" about the homeless services system, which is plagued with issues.

The councilwoman said members of the homeless committee made progress where the city has oversight over its spending on homelessness, which has not been the case before.

"We had a very small system a few years ago after Measure HHH, COVID relief and expanded general funds for Inside Safe," Raman said. "We are spending so much more money on homelessness now, and that money was often being spent under a kind of feeling of urgency and emergency."

As the city prepares to receive funding from the recently approved Measure A, this is an opportunity to hit the reset button, she added.

Szabo noted the city will be able to cover the $80 rate using existing dollars, but there would be very limited spending for new beds.

Councilman Bob Blumenfield, chair of the Budget, Innovation and Finance Committee, said in his Third District, encompassing West San Fernando Valley neighborhoods, Hope the Mission talked about closing down 14 different sites.

"If we don't go up with the rate, I really fear we're going to lose sites, and more people are going to be in the streets," Blumenfield said. "Underscoring what every has said on this because everyone is speaking truth, just speaking different aspects of it."

The Greater L.A. Coalition on Homelessness, a network of more than 50 service providers and supportive housing developers, has previously called for the city to increase the bed rates to $139 per bed per night, representing the full cost of services.

"Today's vote by the Los Angeles City Council to raise interim housing bed rates to $80 in January is a step in the right direction, but inadequate to meet the current crisis. As a result, it is likely that several interim housing sites will close," Jerry Jones, executive director for the coalition, said in a statement.

Last week, the City Council approved a new bed rate of $89 per bed per night, which goes into effect July 1, 2025.