After months of public debate, Daytona Beach has decided to give the Salvation Army more money to shelter the homeless who were camped outside of a county tag office.

  • City officials in Daytona Beach have agreed to give $5,000 to the Salvation Army
  • The Salvation Army has been housing the homeless
  • The decision comes after months of debate about the homeless problem

The city has already given $100,000 to house the homeless in the Salvation Army gym and now they’ve agreed to give another $5,000.

According to city officials, $4,000 will be given to the overseer’s pay at the shelter. The other $1,000 will help house homeless in a hotel if the shelter doesn’t have room for them.

Mike Cornell who works at the Salvation Army Shelter says if the Daytona Beach Police Department finds a homeless person on the streets, they have the option of bringing them to the shelter, instead of taking them to spend a night in jail.

However, if the shelter does not have room for that person, the city will provide them with $1,000 for three months to put them in a hotel.             

The decision comes after residents and employees complained they felt threatened by more than 80 homeless people who were camped directly outside the Volusia County tag office on Beach Street.

Undercover officers said it was an area where they witnessed nights of prostitution, extortion and several beatings.

Since the Salvation Army shelter took in those homeless, the Daytona Beach Police Department reported a nearly 70 percent decrease in arrests since Jan. 1.

Crimes like trespassing, open containers and panhandling have gone down and police say that has saved taxpayers about $120,000.

The temporary shelter beds approved by the city will be available through the end of July.

The city is also working to approve a county shelter.