Some balk as Seattle seeks to spend more money on homeless

SEATTLE (AP) — Sixteen months after he declared a state of emergency on homelessness, Seattle's mayor is asking voters in this liberal, affluent city for $55 million a year in new taxes to fight the problem.

City voters have approved three property tax increases in as many years to pay for affordable housing, preschools and buses, on top of other taxes, and some say the higher bills are pricing out working- and middle-class families.

Daniel Malone, executive director of the nonprofit Downtown Emergency Services, blames rising rents and low vacancy rates for the spike in homelessness.

Since declaring a civil emergency on homelessness in November 2015, Murray expanded shelter beds, authorized new homeless encampments and hired a homeless czar, a $135,000 cabinet-level position.

Communities such as Houston, Las Vegas and New Orleans have made the greatest reductions in homelessness by acting urgently, focusing relentlessly on housing placement, using data to drive funding and creating a person-centered response, one report noted.

Last month, Murray launched trained teams of outreach workers and police officers that go out and connect people to services.

About 70 percent of the money would go to a range of rental subsidies, while other money would expand addiction and mental health treatment and add more trained outreach teams.