Housing Forward and the All Neighbors Coalition have submitted a homelessness tax proposal to Dallas County and will present it to the Continuous Improvement Steering Committee Monday.
The proposal will also be presented to Collin County.
The idea is to build a pot of sustain money to pay for housing and outreach efforts.
Dallas County commissioners who attend the meeting — chaired by Commissioner Andy Sommerman — will decide whether to put the proposal on the court agenda.
Then, commissioners will vote whether to include the homelessness tax proposal on November's election ballot, which would look like a bond election description — what the tax is for and how much the taxes are.
It works out to an average of about $5 per month, per county property owner.
"The voters decide," he said. "Somebody will say I'm raising their taxes and the answer is 'No, I'm not. I'm letting you decide. You choose.' "
An automatic $5, he said, could be similar to a donation given to an unhoused person by a driver from their car window while waiting at a red light.
"You will not see him on the street corner that you would have to give the five dollars — or not — or even feel obligated to in any way shape or form," he said. "Hopefully this takes care of it all. For the first time ever."
Housing Forward president and CEO Sarah Kahn said recently at a media event that the partner organizations and outreach rely on steady funding to help exit thousands of people from homelessness and avoid full shelters, which leads to people spilling over onto the street.
"We need sustainable funding — whatever source that comes from, but the city, the county, and our private sector partners continue to work together to make sure that that resource is available."
Dallas County and the City of Dallas in January each approved $10 million in funding for Housing Forward and its partner organizations.
Half of the city's share came from the last of leftover American Rescue Plan Act money, so that funding source is unavailable for next year.
Kahn said consistent funding is crucial.
"This is not a one and done issue," she said. "And we need sustainable dollars every year to be able to meet that annual need to avoid large spikes in street homelessness. That requires sustainable revenue feeding the system year after year — whatever that looks like for local governments in terms of their contribution to this issue."
A separate childcare tax proposal will also be presented at the meeting.
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