SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose officials are proposing to spend $120 million over the next fiscal year to combat homelessness — about 2% of the city’s expected $5.3 billion budget.

In addition to funding ongoing efforts to build more tiny home shelters and provide outreach services, the money could also help launch entirely new programs — from managed tent encampments to bus tickets to reunite homeless people with loved ones — in hopes of bringing many of the city’s estimated 4,400 unsheltered residents off the streets.

“Homelessness in San Jose is a humanitarian, fiscal, and environmental crisis that requires bold action,” said Mayor Matt Mahan, who’s in charge of steering the budget process, in his annual spending message.

The homelessness plans are outlined in the city’s latest budget proposal, released last week. Officials will continue to refine the budget before the City Council approves it in June. Here are four of the key proposals:

Sanctioned tent encampments

At the direction of state environmental regulators, city officials are developing an ambitious $25 million plan to move about 1,000 homeless people from creeks and rivers over the next year and a half. Without enough shelter beds for everyone, the city is exploring setting up sanctioned tent encampments or “safe sleeping sites” for about 500 of those unhoused residents.

Mahan has cited a managed tent camp in San Diego, which provides individual tents and basic security and sanitation, as a successful model. However, a sanctioned encampment in Sacramento offering few services is under threat after the local district attorney labeled the site a public health hazard and sued the city to close it.

There’s also legal uncertainty about whether sanctioned encampments constitute the “adequate shelter” cities are expected to offer before clearing unmanaged camps. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled it may overturn that requirement in a decision set for next month.

The city is still determining what the sanctioned camps could look like and where they may go. Setting up the sites could cost between $18,000 and $40,000 per tent, or between $9 million and $20 million in total. The budget proposal also raised cost concerns and noted the city might only be able to provide minimal services.

“Homeward bound”

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