Phoenix and Tucson have spent $460 million of taxpayers' money fighting homelessness, but the number of vagrants keeps rising, says an alarming new report.
Researchers at the Goldwater Institute say Arizona's two largest cities have bungled the crisis, pouring money into a 'bottomless pit' and concealing their failures with dodgy accounting.
The report echoes fears of California's so-called 'homeless industrial complex' — a gravy train of funders, officials, shelter owners and charities more keen on swallowing public funds than solving the problem.
It comes in an election year in which the Republican Party's likely nominee Donald Trump has vowed to solve America's homelessness crisis by building encampments for them on the edges of cities.
Phoenix City says it is aware of the problem, and is working hard to increase the number of shelter beds available.
Diamon Bauldwin, 38, lives in a tent under power lines, where Arizona's searing temperatures make her health problems worse
But for Arizona's homeless people, these planned interventions are too little too late, with temperatures set to hit 111°F in Phoenix on Tuesday, making life on the streets perilous.
Report author Austin VanDerHeyden slams officials for 'throwing taxpayer dollars down a bottomless pit, all while refusing to protect all their citizens' rights by enforcing the law.'
'One need only walk the streets of downtown Phoenix or Tucson to see the tragic consequences of this failed strategy: violent crime, disease, public drug use, and more,' he told DailyMail.com.
He warned that officials plan to spend more money and that taxpayers 'deserve transparency and accountability.'
Phoenix has spent more than $250 million on its homelessness crisis since 2021, when counting all relevant funds from the city and county, researchers said.
But between 2018 and 2023, the number of unhoused people jumped by 92 percent to 3,333, it adds.
Researchers highlight several 'multimillion-dollar contracts with the same small group of vendors.
That includes a $30 million deals with Community bridges and its 'rapid rehousing' project, and $27 million with St. Vincent de Paul, which pays for emergency shelters and hotel costs for the unhoused.
The crisis in Phoenix got so bad that property owners and residents suede the city for failing to enforce laws in a homeless encampment, known as 'the Zone.'
They complained of some 1,000 homeless people in the downtown area, and such problems as violence, needles, condoms and human waste in the streets.
'It's not fair to the people who live and work in the neighborhood,' says Joel Coplin, a resident, in a video linked to the report.
His area was 'smothered' by homeless people while others parts of Phoenix were spared, he added, saying that the real victims were the unhoused people who were not getting help.
'It's no way to live. It's not safe. It's not healthy,' he said.
Residents of downtown Phoenix complain about human waste, needles and used condoms in the area known as 'the Zone'
Resident Joel Coplin says it's not fair to have one part of the city 'smothered' by homeless people
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge last year ordered the city to clear out the camp last year.
The number of homeless people in Phoenix has since dropped by about 1 percent, researchers said.
Austin VanDerHeyden, a researcher from the conservative Goldwater Institute
Meanwhile, Pima County, which encompasses Tucson, has spent $210 million on homelessness since 2021.
The number of unhoused people there has jumped by 60 percent to 2,209 people from 2018 to 2023, says the conservative group's 11-page study.
Likewise, much of the money is swallowed up in big contracts, such as the $13 million meals deal with World Dining, the report shows.
Republicans in the Grand Canyon state have pushed for a ballot measure in November's election to tackle the problem.
If approved, property owners could ask to have their property taxes refunded when cities, towns, or counties fail to clear out homeless encampments, and solve the public nuisances they create.
It's not the first time Arizona's has come under fire for bungling the crisis.
The Common Sense Institute of Arizona in February warned that spending on homelessness was about $1 billion — with little to show for it.
Matt Gress, a Republican state representative, said the 'bombshell' figure showed that officials were failing to tackle the drug addiction and other underlying issues that drove the crisis.
A homeless encampment the length of a city block in Phoenix, Arizona, in April 2024
Donald Trump hasvowed to 'ban urban camping' and create 'tent cities' on 'inexpensive land' for homeless people, if elected again in November
More than two thirds of Americans say homelessness, which surged by 12 percent last year, is out of control
Still, Kristin Couturier, a Phoenix City spokeswoman, told DailyMail.com that homeless numbers had finally started going down thanks to more shelter beds and better services.
More than 1,000 temporary and permanent beds were made available in 2022 and 2023 and 790 more are planned for 2024 and 2025, she said.
'While we know shelter alone does not end homelessness, it is a crucial first step for many people,' said Couturier.
The reportspotlights how officials are battling a surge in homelessness in Arizona and beyond.
A recent DailyMail.com/TIPP Poll showed that more than two thirds of US adults said homelessness was out of control and that officials needed to move those sleeping rough into tented encampments outside towns and cities.
The survey revealed that 67 percent of Americans are fed up with the country's fast-rising number of homeless people and want mayors to take drastic steps to tackle the scourge.
Former President Donald Trump making it part of his re-election campaign.
In a video on homelessness released by his campaign, Trump said that 'hardworking, law-abiding citizens' were being sidelines and made to 'suffer for the whims of a deeply unwell few.'
He vowed to 'ban urban camping' and create 'tent cities' on 'inexpensive land' for homeless people that will be staffed with doctors and social workers to help people address systemic problems.
