Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13 District, has introduced a motion that will facilitate timely payments to contractors, especially small businesses, who are partnering with the city on affordable and permanent supportive housing projects funded by Proposition HHH.

“The top priority of Angelenos – from everyday citizens to city leaders – is to house and assist people experiencing homelessness,” O’Farrell said. “The timely payment to HHH partners is critically important, especially the small business contractors, all of whom rely on timely payments to build thousands of units. This is an obligation and duty that the city must fulfill.”

In 2016, the City Council and Los Angeles voters supported Proposition HHH and the issuance of up to $1.2 billion in bond proceeds to address the homelessness crisis, with the goal of building 10,000 affordable and permanent supportive housing over a 10 year period. To date, Proposition HHH has achieved significant outcomes. Fourteen projects (804 units) are completed and occupied, and the Los Angeles Housing Department plans to house the program’s 1,000th tenant before the end of the year. Currently, there are 127 Proposition HHH-funded projects in the pipeline, comprising 8,241 housing units, with at least one project in every council district.

A total of 54 projects (3,402 units) are under construction and 22 projects (1,408 units) are expected to close construction financing by the end of 2021 and begin construction shortly thereafter. An additional 37 projects are in the process of having financing identified, and are targeted to be ready for construction by the end of 2022. Overall, the Los Angeles Housing Department expects to have exceeded the 10,000 unit goal by more than 1,000 units two years early, and with an average HHH subsidy of $135,000 per unit.

“Though LAHD has expeditiously financed and moved projects into the construction phase, due to the increasing number of Proposition HHH projects under construction, as well as a reduced level of staffing at LAHD, it now faces the challenge of processing payment requests in a timely manner,” O’Farrell said.