Getting serious about subway tax

This idea of a tax measure to pay for the Subway to Sea seems to be getting a little more serious, The Times' Steve Hymon reports:

Several officials raised the possibility of a half-cent sales tax hike. If approved by voters, such an increase would bring the county's sales tax rate to 8.75%, tying it with Alameda and Contra Costa counties' as the highest in California. Among those who said they may support the idea were Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a pair of county supervisors, Yvonne B. Burke and Zev Yaroslavsky. "I'm a cynic by design," said Yaroslavsky, current chairman of the five-member Board of Supervisors. "I'm skeptical you can get 66 2/3 " -- the percentage of favorable votes need to approve an increase -- "during a recession. . . . Nevertheless, it's a tool that has to be considered." A poll commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority showed that two-thirds of voters would support a new transportation tax. But the poll's first question made no mention of a subway but did mention widening eight freeways in Los Angeles County.