the nonprofit leading<\/a> the region\u2019s homeless response, developed the proposal, which would fund street outreach, rental assistance, supportive housing, mental-health services and crisis hubs where people could be stabilized instead of jailed.\u00a0<\/p>\nAdvocates say the investment could break the cycle of homelessness and improve the region\u2019s economy and quality of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s completely unacceptable to let people wait on our streets while we\u2019re getting people stable and self-sufficient,\u201d Housing Forward CEO Sarah Kahn said.<\/p>\n
![\"Sarah]()
<\/p>\n
Sarah Kahn, president and CEO of Housing Forward, at a presentation in May at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-channels-pixel.ex.co\/events\/0012000001fxZm9AAE?integrationType=DEFAULT&template=design%2Farticle%2Fplatypus_two_column.tpl\")
<\/p>\n
Opponents say the proposal, unveiled only two months ago, makes unsubstantiated promises without providing enough detail before the election about how spending and results would be tracked.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cOur residents deserve accountability, and more importantly, our residents deserve a clear path with results, and I honestly don\u2019t see this in this proposal,\u201d County Commissioner Elba Garcia said in August before voting against placing the measure on the ballot.<\/p>\n
At stake is a major expansion of Dallas County\u2019s role in fighting homelessness, paid for indefinitely through higher property taxes until county officials vote to end it. For the median homestead, the homelessness tax levy would add $89 this year over last year\u2019s rate.<\/p>\n
If voters approve the tax, commissioners would then determine how contracts are awarded, initiatives are rolled out and outcomes are measured.<\/p>\n
Housing Forward has proposed it would receive and distribute the money under an initial five-year contract with the county in which renewals are based on meeting performance goals. It is pledging to eliminate street sleeping for every person within its first year and prevent any more people from falling into homelessness.<\/p>\n
County Administrator Darryl Martin said that a contract\u00a0likely would not require bidding because Housing Forward is the region\u2019s federally designated lead agency for homeless services.<\/p>\n
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who opposes the tax, said the county should put the agreement out for competitive proposals before entrusting one organization with so much public money.<\/p>\n
A lasting tax<\/p>\n
The levy has no sunset. The $100 million annual allocation for homeless aid would remain part of the county\u2019s annual budgets unless commissioners later voted to reduce the tax rate and wind down the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Other large communities, including Los Angeles County and Seattle, have dedicated taxes for housing and homelessness programs, but many rely on sales taxes or time-limited levies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Dallas]()
<\/p>\n
Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins speaks on a panel at a State of Homelessness program in May at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Three of Dallas County\u2019s five Democratic commissioners support Housing Forward\u2019s proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kahn said Housing Forward\u2019s work clearing downtown Dallas encampments with a coalition of partners offers proof the approach can work countywide. She said downtown street homelessness has declined more 80% since 2021, based on counts conducted by Downtown Dallas Inc.<\/p>\n
The key has been combining street outreach with mental-health care and connections to housing, Kahn said in an appearance before The Dallas Morning News editorial board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said that approach should be expanded countywide to reach all 11,000 people he said enter homelessness in Dallas County each year and to reduce unnecessary jail and emergency-room costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a county issue,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if two or three cities really made it a priority, found the funding to make it a priority, it would just be dispersing homeless persons out to other surrounding cities in Dallas County.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kahn said the $100 million each year would help about 4,500 households experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing their housing annually \u00a0\u2013 the remaining population existing resources cannot serve.<\/p>\n
Price said that pledge relies too heavily on Housing Forward\u2019s internal estimates and variables the county cannot control. <\/p>\n
Helping 4,500 households, he said,\u00a0would depend on housing availability, landlord cooperation, treatment capacity and provider performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s too many questions that are out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
![\"Booker]()
<\/p>\n
Booker Campbell, right, hugs Housing Forward outreach coordinator Haley Walton after moving into a Dallas apartment Aug. 28, 2024. Campbell was among more than 100 people housed through the Street to Home operation.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
In year one of the levy, about $68 million would be allocated for up to 12 months of rental or employment help, while $8 million would fund longer-term housing and treatment for up to five years, according to the proposal. Rental units would be spread countywide, Kahn said.<\/p>\n
About $4 million would go toward short-term expenses to get someone off the streets quickly, like travel expenses to connect with friends or family.
The proposal would divide the county into six zones, with hubs connecting people to medical care, crisis stabilization and other services for $20 million in the first year.<\/p>\n
That would incorporate a $25 million, 100-bed deflection center already in planning by the county, where police could take people for stabilization instead of arresting them for nonviolent, low-level offenses.<\/p>\n
The initiative\u2019s reach would depend not only on available housing, willing landlords and treatment capacity but also voluntary participation because Texas law generally prevents compelled treatment.<\/p>\n
Running against it<\/p>\n
![\"A]()
<\/p>\n
A slide on efforts to address homelessness is displayed at a presentation in May hosted by Housing Forward at the\u00a0Winspear Opera House in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The tax debate also has drawn scrutiny in two county races.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Republicans Mike Immler, a former business executive challenging Jenkins, and attorney Barry Wernick, running against County Commissioner Andrew Sommerman, oppose the measure and have made its cost and unfinished oversight part of their campaigns.<\/p>\n
Immler said homeless aid should not be funded by taxpayers but by corporate philanthropy and private giving in coordination with local government.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
He favors longer-term behavioral health services that help individuals avoid jail and called Housing Forward\u2019s plan \u201ca Band-Aid without any solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wernick calls it Sommerman\u2019s \u201cpermanent homeless tax,\u201d citing its lack of a sunset and safeguards that won\u2019t be formalized until after voters cast their ballots.<\/p>\n
He said it\u2019s an unvetted and expensive proposal coming at a time when residents are struggling to afford gas and groceries.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re basically taxing people out of their homes because the commissioner wants to virtue signal,\u201d\u00a0Wernick said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sommerman has disputed that, saying taxpayers are already bearing the cost with homeless individuals cycling through jails, emergency rooms and county resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the tax would fund a coordinated response required to show results that would pay dividends for residents.\u00a0Voters can \u201cpay for failure or invest in success,\u201d\u00a0Sommerman said.<\/p>\n
Tracking progress<\/p>\n
Jenkins said the contract with Housing Forward would include performance metrics tied to renewals and oversight by county officials, though those details wouldn\u2019t be defined until after the election.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll want to make sure that there is a layer of government accountability, because this is taxpayer dollars, but not a layer of bureaucratic paralysis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"City]()
<\/p>\n
City code compliance workers clear belongings from a downtown Dallas encampment in September 2024. The Street to Home operation, a partnership between Dallas and the Housing Forward-led All Neighbors Coalition, helped more than 100 people move into permanent housing.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Of the 25,000 clients Housing Forward and partners have helped since 2021, fewer than 10% have returned to the homeless response system, according to Kahn.<\/p>\n
Some opponents question whether the nonprofit\u2019s self-reported figures provide enough evidence to justify a permanent tax increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Betty Culbreath, a longtime Dallas County housing advocate, said it is difficult to reconcile the reported progress with encampments and street sleeping she continues to see around Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not against funding services for homeless people, I\u2019m against squandering money in the name of homeless people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jenkins could not say how long such a levy would need to be in place if it passes. Unless thousands of new people stop falling into homelessness every year, \u201cthe program will be necessary,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rob Farmer, a community case manager at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, a member of Housing Forward\u2019s All…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-456231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}