Public Works cleanup crew (HoST)

A city crew that hauls away trash left at encampments.

What it is

HoST stands for Homeless Support Team. It is a small Public Works crew with a truck. Its job is to pick up the trash, debris and waste that collect where people live outside: in parks, on the beach, in alleys and around city buildings. The city's budget calls it "a specialized public space maintenance team focusing on waste and debris generated by people experiencing homelessness."

In the city budget HoST has its own cost center, a numbered account that collects its costs: 01500037, in the Facilities Maintenance division of Public Works. For FY2026-27 that account is planned at $577,940. About $387,000 of that is wages and benefits. $170,626 is a line labeled as Measure CS money, the 2022 hotel tax increase. The rest is fuel, uniforms and truck maintenance.

On a normal Tuesday the crew drives a set route through known hotspots, answers complaints residents file through the city's 311 system, and responds when police or fire ask for help. That help can mean breaking down an encampment after police clear it, cleaning a sidewalk or a public restroom, or hauling away debris the police, the City Manager or the Council see as a safety hazard. Crew members are trained for needles and other bloodborne hazards, respiratory risks, de-escalation and Narcan.

The city started HoST in September 2023 because encampment waste was growing faster than regular maintenance crews could handle. In October 2025 the Council voted to expand it to seven days a week. That expansion is paid for separately and is not part of the $577,940.

This line does not house anyone or offer anyone a bed. It cleans up after people who have nowhere else to go.

How it started

HoST began in late September 2023 as a pilot run by a contractor, Mariposa. A three-person crew, one crew leader and two maintenance workers with one large truck, worked Tuesdays and Thursdays and covered the city in quadrants. It picked up 7.5 tons in October 2023 and 30.7 tons in November. The city said the money came from Measure CS, the hotel tax increase voters passed on Nov 8, 2022 with 73.87% yes. In May 2024 Public Works brought the work in-house with city staff and its own equipment and moved to five days a week. By the end of July 2024 the team had hauled more than 180 tons since launch. The budget shows $200,296 charged to the Measure CS HoST account in FY2023-24, the contractor year, and city staff costs starting that same year. On Oct 28, 2025 the Council adopted the City Manager's Realignment Plan, which expanded HoST "to a seven-day operation with new staff and equipment to better address illegal dumping, human waste cleanup, and 311 service requests." The plan added 2 Maintenance Crew Leaders and 3 Maintenance Workers to General Fund Public Works and bought a dump truck and a pressure washer, without saying which of these went to HoST. On March 24, 2026 staff reported the expanded crew was hired, with deployment expected within months. HoST hauled 54.69 tons in 2023, 253.97 tons in 2024 and 436.02 tons in 2025, a 71.7% increase that staff tied to the Realignment Plan.

What we take and when

Nothing changes until the cleanup need drops. Starting with the FY2028-29 budget, and only after HoST's yearly tonnage falls to half of 2025's 436 tons (about 218 tons), the Council would cut $0.29M to $0.58M a year from cost center 01500037 and put it toward bed operating contracts under demand D5. If tonnage does not fall by half, the take does not happen. The seven-day expansion approved in October 2025 is not touched.

The numbers today

HoST cost center 01500037, total$577,940FY2026-27 budget plan inference
Of that, the line labeled Measure CS funding for HoST (account 529550)$170,626FY2026-27 budget plan fact
Of that, wages, overtime and benefits$387,302 (permanent salaries $234,056; overtime $25,000)FY2026-27 budget plan inference
HoST cost center, earlier years$243,414 actual (FY2023-24); $554,685 revised (FY2024-25); $562,158 adopted (FY2025-26)FY2023-24 to FY2025-26 inference
Debris HoST hauled54.69 tons (2023); 253.97 tons (2024); 436.02 tons (2025)calendar years fact
Total debris since October 2023744.68 tonsas of March 2026 fact
Cost of the seven-day expansionNot established. The Oct 2025 plan added $2,182,276 (FY2025-26) and $3,256,904 (FY2026-27) to General Fund Public Works for several teams combined.FY2025-26, FY2026-27 fact
Hotel tax (TOT) rate since March 1, 202315% hotels and motels; 17% homesharescurrent fact
Hotel tax revenue to the General Fund$73,228,754 adopted (FY2025-26); $72,812,130 adopted (FY2026-27)FY2025-26, FY2026-27 fact
Yearly money Measure CS was expected to raiseabout $4.1 million2022 ballot estimate fact
Amount the petition takes$0.29M to $0.58M a yearfrom FY2028-29, once 2025 tonnage halves inference
Beds that sum runsabout 4 to 9 motel or tiny-home beds at $65,000 each, or 8 to 16 shelter beds at $35,000per year inference

What we give up

We give up half to all of the original HoST crew hours, the crew the city has described as one crew leader and two maintenance workers on five days a week. At the full $0.58M take, the original cost center would be closed and cleanup would depend on the seven-day expansion crew and other Public Works teams. At $0.29M, roughly half of the original crew's time goes. The $170,626 Measure CS line would stop paying for HoST, which some residents will read as breaking a promise on a hotel tax that voters were told would keep parks and beaches clean. If encampments return after the cut, debris will build up faster than a smaller crew can clear it.

Why this works

HoST's tonnage is a measure of how much living outside is happening. A cleanup removes the trash, and the person moves a block over. Beds remove the cause. Places that added beds saw outdoor counts fall. Culver City paired its camping ban with a 73-unit Homekey site and a safe-sleep village. Its unsheltered count fell from 51 in 2025 to 38 in 2026, and 164 people were in city-program shelter on count night (secondhand, Wave). Houston saw unsheltered homelessness rise 15.8% in 2025 when shelter capacity fell (CFTH). San Diego's auditor found the downtown drop went largely into city safe-sleeping sites (audit). RAND found that removing tents without a place to go turned about three of every four into vehicles or rough sleeping (RAND). In Santa Monica's 2026 count, sheltered people rose by 20 while people outdoors fell by 86 (city). Our take waits for the city's own tonnage figure (March 24 report) to halve, so we cut cleanup only after there is less to clean.

The strongest case against

Cleanups are a public health job that has to be done whether or not beds exist. Encampment waste includes needles, human waste and rotting food, and those spread disease to the people living outside and to everyone who uses the same parks and beaches. Tonnage rose 71.7% in 2025, so the need is growing, not shrinking. After the Supreme Court's 2024 Grants Pass ruling, cities can enforce camping bans even when shelters are full, and Santa Monica's police arrests rose from 2,804 in 2024 to 3,446 in 2025. Every encampment police clear leaves debris, and HoST is the crew police call. Cut the crew and enforcement leaves trash behind on the sidewalk. Tonnage is also a poor trigger: a crew working seven days will haul more, and a drop in tonnage could mean dumping went elsewhere. Voters approved Measure CS by almost three to one on a ballot that promised to "make public areas safer and cleaner, including streets, sidewalks, parks, and the beach." Taking that money away from cleanup undercuts the promise, and the amount is small next to what it would buy in beds.

Our answer

The public health case is real, which is why we leave the seven-day expansion alone and wait for the cleanup need to halve before taking anything. Measure CS is a general tax, and its ballot question listed "address homelessness" first, so using its money for beds fits what voters were told (Ballotpedia, ballot text). Enforcement after Grants Pass needs somewhere to send people. Without a bed, a cleared camp re-forms nearby, and RAND found most people pushed out of tents ended up in cars or sleeping rough. A crew can haul 436 tons a year indefinitely and the count outside will not change. The amount is small: about 4 to 9 non-congregate beds a year (inference). We include it because a city that finally has fewer camps should not keep paying for the same cleanup volume.

Who decides

Who votes: Santa Monica City Council, seven members, including whoever wins the three seats on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot. The Transient Occupancy Tax Advisory Committee can recommend how Measure CS money is spent, but its advice is not binding.
Votes needed: The budget passes with a majority of councilmembers present at adoption, which is 4 if all seven attend. Any budget change after adoption needs five affirmative votes (FY2025-27 Adopted Budget p.295; City Charter section 1505).
When: The FY2027-29 biennial budget, adopted about June 2027, sets the FY2028-29 plan year (inference from the June 2025 and June 2026 schedule). The cut would be written in then and confirmed in the June 2028 update, once 2027 tonnage is known.
Where the rule is written: santamonica.gov

The agenda or process

Questions people ask

Won't the city get dirtier?

Not if the trigger works. We take nothing until HoST is hauling half of what it hauled in 2025, and the seven-day crew added in October 2025 stays. If camps do not shrink, the cut does not happen.

Didn't voters approve the hotel tax for cleanups?

The ballot listed cleaner streets, parks and beaches, and it listed addressing homelessness first. Measure CS is a general tax, so the Council decides each year how to spend it. Only $170,626 of HoST's budget is labeled as Measure CS money.

Isn't this just moving money around?

Yes. The Council moves money every budget. We ask that cleanup money follow the drop in cleanup work into beds that cause the drop. No tax goes up.

Why such a small line?

Every line on our list is a place where the city pays to manage homelessness instead of ending it. HoST is the smallest, about 4 to 9 non-congregate beds a year (inference), and it only moves once the need falls.

Will people actually use the beds?

The city's own 2026 count shows people move inside when there is room: sheltered rose by 20 while people outdoors fell by 86. The petition requires a monthly public report of beds offered and refused (D3).

Sources

FY2025-27 Operating Budget Line Item DetailEvery 01500037 account line (pp.454 and 461), the $170,626 Measure CS HoST line, TOT rates and FY2025-26 TOT revenue (p.46)
FY2025-27 Adopted Biennial BudgetHoST description (p.203), Measure CS glossary entry (p.334), budget vote rules
FY2026-27 Adopted Budget AddendumFY2026-27 adopted General Fund TOT revenue, $72,812,130 (p.6)
Santa Monica Realignment Plan Update, March 24, 2026Tonnage by year, 744.68 tons since October 2023, expanded crew hired
Realignment Plan staff report, Oct 28, 2025Seven-day HoST expansion with new staff and equipment
Realignment Plan Attachment A, Budget Changes, Oct 28, 2025Public Works totals and vehicle purchases; no HoST line
Realignment Plan Attachment C, Position Changes, Oct 28, 20252 Maintenance Crew Leaders and 3 Maintenance Workers added to General Fund Public Works
City press release, Oct 24, 2025Expanding HoST to seven-day service
May 26, 2026 budget staff reportLists "an expanded Homeless Support Team" as a result; no cost given
May 26, 2026 budget Attachment ASearched; no HoST line among the budget changes
City blog, Dec 20, 2023Launch, contractor, three-person crew, routes, police and fire requests, training, early tonnage
City blog, Aug 23, 2024In-house crew from May 2024, five days a week, 180 tons, 311 and HLP work
Ballotpedia, Measure CS (November 2022)Ballot question, vote count, $4.1M estimate
City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024)Cities may enforce camping bans
Santa Monica 2026 homeless count press release718 total, sheltered up 20, outdoors down 86
Wave Publication on Culver CityCulver City unsheltered count fell from 51 (2025) to 38 (2026); 164 people sheltered by city programs on count night 2026
Coalition for the Homeless, Houston 2025 countHouston unsheltered rose 15.8% when shelter capacity fell
San Diego City Auditor, April 2026Downtown drop moved largely into safe sleeping sites
RAND RRA4903-1Tents removed without places became rough sleeping
Petition city funding ledgerTake size, trigger, bed costs and the full list of lines considered

Words on this page

311: The city's line and app for non-emergency requests, such as reporting trash or an encampment.
budget plan: The second-year numbers in Santa Monica's two-year budget. The Council approves them in June of the first year and can revise them a year later.
cost center: A numbered account in the budget that collects every cost of one team or program. HoST's is 01500037.
encampment: A place where one or more people live outside in tents or makeshift shelters.
fiscal year (FY): The city's budget year, July 1 to June 30. FY2028-29 runs July 1, 2028 to June 30, 2029.
five affirmative votes: Santa Monica's rule for changing the budget after it is adopted: five of the seven councilmembers must vote yes.
General Fund: The city's main checking account. Most local taxes go in, and police, parks, libraries and most staff are paid out of it. Money in it can be moved by a Council vote.
general tax: A tax whose money can be spent on any city purpose. It passes with a simple majority. A special tax is locked to a stated purpose and needs two-thirds.
Grants Pass: City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, a June 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cities may enforce camping bans even when shelter beds are not available.
HLP: Homeless Liaison Program, the Santa Monica Police Department team that works with people living outside and clears encampments.
homeshare: A short-term rental of a room or home in which the host lives, such as some Airbnb listings.
HoST: Homeless Support Team. A Public Works crew that cleans up encampment waste and debris and helps police and fire clear encampments.
interim housing: A temporary place to sleep indoors with services, such as a shelter bed, a motel room or a tiny home, while someone waits for an apartment.
Measure CS: A 2022 Santa Monica ballot measure that raised the hotel tax by 1 point for hotels and 3 points for homeshares. It passed 27,282 to 9,651. It is a general tax, so its money goes into the General Fund.
non-congregate: Interim housing where each person or couple has their own room or unit, such as a motel room or tiny home, instead of a shared dorm.
PIT count: Point-in-Time count. A one-night count of people experiencing homelessness, done each January or February. Santa Monica's 2026 count found 718 people, 496 of them unsheltered.
Public Works: The city department that maintains streets, buildings, parks, water and trash service.
RAND: A nonprofit research organization in Santa Monica that runs its own homeless counts and studies.
Realignment Plan: The City Manager's plan adopted by the Council on Oct 28, 2025 to add police, maintenance and other staff and return the budget to balance by July 1, 2027.
Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT): The hotel tax. Visitors pay it on stays under 30 days. Santa Monica's rate is 15% for hotels and 17% for homeshares.
unsheltered: Sleeping outdoors, in a vehicle or in a tent, instead of in a shelter.