There was little left behind Thursday morning after multiple agencies, including Dallas police, helped shut down a homeless encampment beneath Interstate 45. The closure is part of an ongoing effort to move people living unsheltered in Dallas into what leaders call permanent supportive housing. Housing advocates said a strategy launched in downtown Dallas nearly two years ago has led to steep declines in the number of people sleeping outside overnight. Officials said those efforts have since expanded beyond downtown neighborhoods. “Local investment helped make that happen,” Sarah Kahn said. At Thursday’s State of Homelessness address, Housing Forward leaders highlighted how $10 million investments from both the city of Dallas and Dallas County helped expand the organization’s “Street to Home” initiative. But Housing Forward President and CEO Sarah Kahn said the funding was temporary and will eventually run out. Housing Forward is now asking Dallas County commissioners to approve placing a tax proposal before voters this fall. According to the organization, the proposal would raise property taxes by about $60 per year for the average-valued home. “So, what we’re asking is permission to let the voters decide,” Kahn said. Dallas County Commissioner Theresa Daniel said she is carefully reviewing the proposal. “I’m looking at it very very carefully, very deeply on what does that mean,” Daniel said. The request comes just weeks after Dallas voters approved a record bond package for Dallas ISD worth more than $6 billion. Kahn said a permanent, dedicated funding source is needed to ensure recent progress addressing homelessness does not stall. “That investment is in preventing people being pushed onto the street every year,” Kahn said. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less