The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) is already under scrutiny over allegations of financial waste, mismanagement, and a lack of transparency. Now, LAist has learned that the agency owes contractors at least $69 million, with 40% of the outstanding invoices having sat unpaid for more than two months.
LAHSA offered different explanations for the payment delays depending on the funding source. For city-funded contracts, the agency blamed City Hall, saying it has yet to receive millions of dollars in allocated funding. For county-funded contracts, however, LAHSA acknowledged it has the funds but has not issued payments. The agency cited recent staff turnover and a leadership vacuum that delayed the finalization of contracts. As a result, LAHSA told LAist it is now facing an “avalanche” of invoices from the past six months that staff must process.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath excoriated the agency in a statement.
“If LAHSA were a publicly traded company, regulators would shut them down,” she said. “LAHSA balance sheets don’t balance, and they fail to provide real-time financial information to their very own commissioners.”
Since her election to the Board of Supervisors in 2022, Horvath has emerged as one of the agency’s biggest critics. Last year, she introduced a motion with Kathryn Barger to redirect $300 million in county funds away from LAHSA and place the money under direct county control. Supervisors approved the plan 4-0, with Holly Mitchell abstaining.
LAHSA says it is working with outside consultants to get the agency’s finance operations in order and ensure the outstanding invoices get paid.
Read about the delayed payments and their impact on homeless services providers here.