(May 27, 2008) -- L.A. County's Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA or Metro) Board of Directors -- which includes Vice Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal -- is moving toward asking the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to put a measure on the November 2008 ballot that could raise L.A. County's sales tax -- already one of the highest in the nation -- by another half cent.
At the Board's April 22 meeting, the minutes indicate that the Board -- with Vice Mayor Lowenthal present and voting "yes" -- asked Metro staff to report back in June on a package of specific street and highway improvements and public transit projects that could be funded by a new L.A. County transportation sales tax. In a release, MTA itself calls the Board's action "a step toward putting a new local half cent sales tax measure on the November ballot."
The MTA Board's next scheduled discussion on the matter -- at which time it could vote to request a sales tax hike ballot measure from L.A. County's Board of Supervisors -- is scheduled for June 26...after the June 3 Dem primary in which Vice Mayor Lowenthal now faces fellow LB Dem Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga.
L.A. residents already pay CA's second-highest sales tax rate at 8.25%...with 1% allocated to transportation projects.
Sales tax is generally considered a "regressive" tax since it disproportionately impacts those with the fewest resources to pay it. Its effects on L.A. County businesses in a recession will also likely be an issue for some voters.
As separately reported by LBReport.com, LB Mayor Bob Foster has indicated that he plans to advance a measure in the coming weeks (i.e. also after the election) widely speculated to include some type of proposed tax increase to pay for what the Mayor calls needed "infrastructure" projects" (no specifics publicly yet).
As also separately reported by LBReport.com, local Assembly Democrat incumbents (Karnette, Furutani, De La Torre, Solorio) indicated at a May 2008 ELB event that they favor expanding CA's sales and use tax to apply to "services" (potentially to items including accounting and law firm services and theme park and concert tickets).
An MTA release says MTA's June Board discussion will coincide with its review of a draft "Long Range Transportation Plan" that it says "looks ahead to the year 2030 and addresses mobility improvements necessary to deal with another 2 million people living in the county and exponential growth in truck and rail traffic moving cargo from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach."
Developing.
