Grand Canyon Times

A policy report produced by The Goldwater Institute examining homelessness in Maricopa County and Pima County shows government agencies “have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into various efforts to fight homelessness, yet the homeless population remains stubbornly high and continues to grow.”

The Institute’s report details that despite a reported allocation of about $140 million to Phoenix’s Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) to address the issue, close examination of “public records such as ordinances, budget reports and contracts shows that Phoenix has actually allocated over $180 million to homelessness services since 2021 through a combination of federal, state and local funding – far more than reported by OHS.”

According to the analysis by Goldwater, "Phoenix and Tucson’s spending on combating it is anything but transparent" and that both cities "have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into various efforts to fight homelessness, yet the homeless population remains stubbornly high and continues to grow.”  

Austin VanDerHeyden, Municipal Affairs Liaison for the Goldwater Institute, appeared on a recent episode of the Grand Canyon Times podcast to discuss the report and the Institute’s efforts to help citizens in both Phoenix and Tucson affected by the issue of homelessness.

“The point of our property taxes is to receive the public services that the city provides, really owes to us. And when you’re not receiving those services, we think that you should be able to get a portion of your property tax back. And so it’s not going to fix the problem entirely, but it’s certainly going to help,” said VanDerHeyden.

The report paints a similarly stark portrait in Pima County, which has annually spent between $50 million and $70 million on homelessness, among federal, state, local and philanthropic sources.

According to the report, in the past several years, homelessness has risen dramatically in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, and Pima County which includes Tucson. 

“Honestly, we’re just trying to help the law-abiding citizens, the business owners, the property owners who have had to really take matters into their own hands here," VanDerHeyden said about the report. "[...] If you’ve had to build a fence up to, to block off your property, hire private security, put in a security system, whatever it may be, you can take off a portion or file a tax credit to receive a portion of your property taxes back."  

Established in 1998 and based in Phoenix, The Goldwater Institute is a nonprofit public policy research and litigation organization, which promotes free-market principles and limited government. Named after U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), the Institute conducts research, provides policy recommendations and engages in litigation to protect individual rights and state sovereignty. It focuses on various policy areas, including education, healthcare and property rights.

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How much did the city of Phoenix and Pima county spend on fighting homelessness?

City of Phoenix: 

Organization	Cost for city of Phoenix	Total Service Cost	Purpose
Community Bridges	$29,869,568	$37,334,854	Property, Housing & Rapid Rehousing, Outreach for Shelter Support Services
BRYCON	$16,000,000	$16,000,000	Shelter Space and General Contracting Services
St. Vincent de Paul	$13,024,305	$27,273,131	Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Hotel Operation
Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS)	$9,402,625	$14,833,468	Housing, Shelter and Homeless Support Services
Mercy Care	$9,000,000	$9,000,000	Behavioral Health/Mental Health Services
Human Services Campus Inc.	$7,010,401	$15,512,521	Relief Sprung Structure for Shelter
Salvation Army	$6,218,993 (city approved $6,000,000 in funding that has yet to be contracted)	$7,124,842	Shelter, Street Outreach
A New Leaf	$4,598,423	$9,206,130	Rapid Rehousing, Homeless Youth Reunification (includes possible hotel operation)
UMOM Day Centers	$4,495,264	$29,718,600	Shelter, Street Outreach
Steel & Spark	$2,624,000	$2,624,000	X-Wing Shelter Units
Homeward Bound	$2,348,795	$3,183,601	Homelessness Prevention, Including GED and Job Training
St. Joseph the Worker	$2,000,000	2,997,533.00	Workforce Villages – Paying Housing Costs
Child Crisis Arizona	$1,226,459	$1,827,509	Shelter for Homeless Minors
Southwest Behavioral Health Services	$1,035,702	$1,599,967	Criminal Justice for Homeless/Outreach

Pima County: 

Organization	Amount	Purpose
World Dining LLC	$13,400,000	Food
City of Tucson	$6,046,272	Emergency Food & Shelter
Our Family Services Inc.	$1,749,880	Housing, Rapid Rehousing, Rental Assistance, and Case Management
Compass Affordable Housing Inc.	$850,000	Housing
Interfaith Community Services	823,384.00	Utility, Rental, and Mortgage Assistance
Community Bridges Inc.	752,477.00	Housing, Employment, and Substance Abuse services
Catholic Community Services of So Arizona Inc. PIO Decimo Center	562,386.00	Transitional Housing for Families, Childcare

**source: Goldwater Institute