The Palm Springs City Councilmembers are calling local homelessness a matter of emergency in a letter written to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, in the letter the councilmembers request urgent action to fund local homeless programs.

Homelessness in Riverside County is on the rise the 2019 Point in Time Count shows a 21 % increase.

The Palm Springs Mayor, the mayor pro tem and the city council all signed off on a letter written to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, part of it reads, “As the summer approaches, and our community is already experiencing triple-digit heat, the Palm Springs City Council urges the County of Riverside to meet its legal and ethical obligations to address homelessness in the Coachella Valley.”

Mayor Pro Tem Geoff Kors said immediate action needs to be taken. Kors said, “They have 25 million in reserves for this purpose, we need them to spend some of it so people don’t die this summer. “

Kors points to the lack of overnight homeless shelters in the western Coachella Valley since Roy’s Desert Resource Center closed in the summer of 2017.

“They have the social service department, no city does,” Kors said. “It is the county that has it they have the staff, we don’t have any staff on social services it’s not a city job.”

Although Kors said the city has stepped-up and spent more than a $1,000,000of municipal money in services such as the Bus Pass Program, staff for the health and housing crisis response team and community policing.

Kors said, “The county is the legal entity under case law and statue, they get all of the funding, despite that, the city council at our residents’ request and businesses have stepped up and used money that could go to public safety or fixing roads.”

Top city officials are now working with state legislators to request $10,000,000 in the state budget to expand homeless services in the desert.

Kors said, “We’re willing to do more than our share but we need the county to lead because they are the lead agency and they are the ones who have the staff.”

Riverside County Board of Supervisor, Manny Perez, met with city leaders from Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs to discuss the on-going homeless issue.

“While the county currently spends considerable resources on homelessness and housing programs, we realize the need to address the humanitarian needs of our homeless population as we enter the summer months,” Perez told NBC Palm Springs in a statement. “I look forward to the continued collaboration with the cities, CVAG, the Desert Healthcare District and our county departments to find short- and long-term solutions for the unsheltered residents of the Coachella Valley.”

Palm Springs City Leaders Urge County to take Action in Homelessness