Sales tax bill advances

One recurrent theme of this blog will be the lack of a consistent funding stream to build more mass transit -- not just here in the Southland but pretty much everywhere in the U.S.

That may change, at least in L.A. County. The California State Assembly last week approved of a bill, AB 2321 by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles, pictured here), that would allow the MTA Board to ask voters in November to raise the county sales tax by half a penny to pay for more road and mass transit projects. That would take the sales tax rate from 8.25% to 8.75%, translating to an extra 50 cents in taxes for every $100 you spend on goods and services.

Proponents say such an increase would create $20 billion to $30 billion over the next three decades for transportation projects, including (and most notably) a subway extension on the Westside. Local politicians are still trying to decide whether they want to roll the dice in November, because a sales tax increase would need approval of two-thirds of voters, often a difficult hurdle.

That makes it risky. The sales tax in L.A. County is already among the highest in the state, and the economy isn't exactly humming along these days. But voter turnout in November is expected to be huge because of the presidential election, and many people who are sympathetic to mass transit -- the young and minorities -- will be going to the polls.

Now, the technical legislative stuff that's not real sexy, but important to understand:

1. Feuer's office still must find a way to ensure that the bill applies to this year's election. An urgency clause that would have done that was dropped from the bill because of a lack of Republican support. The word "tax" makes GOP lawmakers nervous, particularly in an election year.

2. The MTA Board will vote at its June 26 meeting whether to ask the Board of Supervisors to vote to put the sales tax hike on the November ballot -- in other words, they're assuming the bill will eventually pass the Legislature. Confusing? Think of it this way: The five supes have a lot of juice on this issue because they're also members of the MTA Board!

I'm going to be writing a lot about the bill and will pay very close attention to what projects it would fund. I'm also very interested in how readers feel about such a hike. Do you have half a penny to spare? And, if so, what do you want to see get built?

-- Steve Hymon, "Road Sage"

Photo: office of Assemblyman Feuer

Comments

[Jim Collison]

Weak and oblique...how about E-fail? (re:people who let their vehicle run out of gas (petrol)

[Dan W]

"Oh yeah, the "Subway-to-the-Sea". Tax the entire county to build and operate a train to run under Wilshire Blvd. Amazing. Absolutely amazing."

--------------------

Nice straw dog there you are setting afire.

The package put before voters would include many projects county-wide which this sales tax increase would help fund.

Oh, and incidentally, even though the Purple Line would not be the only recipient of this money, it is the most needed and necessary transit project in the county and the increased mobility will benefit the entire county.

[Richard H]

Los Angeles County Sales taxes are already WAY TOO HIGH!!!!

Raise an 8.25% sales tax to 8.75%? UNREAL!

All high sales taxes do is promote a gray and black market retail trade that evades the sales taxes...and the income taxes and all the other taxes for that matter. Also promotes big box retailers. Wal-Mart, anyone?

When did public funding of "transit" become this holy grail? Who uses "transit"? People keep talking "transit", but who uses it? Check the U.S. Census figures on commuter transportation for L.A. County. More commuters carpooled that used public "transit" in 2005. Nearly twice as many. Don't even mention commuters in single occupant cars!

What would happen if the sales tax is raised for "transit" funding? My bet is Federal and State handouts to LACMTA will be cut back more than they have been. The increased sales taxes would just go to cover the shortfall.

Oh yeah, the "Subway-to-the-Sea". Tax the entire county to build and operate a train to run under Wilshire Blvd. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

[Malcolm Carson]

Congratulations to Assemblyman Feuer for getting this bill passed. There's no question that the transportation system in Los Angeles County is seriously deficient and this sales tax could provide some relief. I have several concerns, however, going forward:

1. There needs to be some accountability built into the measure to ensure that Metro spends the money in the most cost-effective manner in terms of reducing congestion and pollution, increasing mobility and giving people other options besides car-dependency. Metro needs to move beyond funding political pet projects that look great on a map but fail to attract ridership comensurate with expenditures.

2. Specifically, as a first order of business, Metro should eliminate overcrowding on all buses and provide Rapid service on all major bus routes. It's absurd to spend billions trying to lure "choice" riders out of their luxury cars when millions get the sardine can treatment every day of the week and heavily used bus routes lack basic quality upgrades that have been proven to sharply boost ridership on other similar lines.

[Felix Yu]

While public transit projects have been woefully and negligently under-funded for decades, why does it make sense to raise general sales taxe rates to a new high, even while per gallon gasoline taxes are at or near historic lows in real terms? It is in part due to low gas taxes that we've got the problems we do today - making driving otherwise cheaper, and public transit not worth the hassle. Yes, gas is painfully expensive, but even today's gas tax revenue doesn't come close to paying for our roads and bridges.

[m]

Yes, Kymberleigh, I ride the red line every day, but last time I checked they aren't still expanding the red line or the blue line. So where is the money now going? Those new screens they put up in the red line stations do not cost the same amount of money as building the red line did. Have you taken a look at the massive amount of advertising that has permeated the trains? There is a 15 second long commercial playing on the redline tunnel between Hollywood/Highland and Universal City. Nearly all of the rail maps have been pulled from the trains to make space for cable and tv advertisements. The walls of the stations are usually plastered with giant ads for movies.

Annually I spend more money on state taxes, sales tax and gasoline tax than I do on car payments, car maintenance, gasoline, car insurance, my bike, new shoes and on my metro passes. Please show me where every single cent I pay into this system is going each year before you ask me for more money. If it is not being used efficiently and where I was told it would be used, there is no need for me to give more until things are straightened out. I know I have voted for various bills in the past where the money was supposed to go to public transportation and it has not. Misusing the money I have already given to the city and state is hardly a reason for me to give more. That is like me tell my boss I need a raise because I blew all of my money on a collection of stale potato chips shaped like all 50 U.S. states and I can't afford any clothing.

[Robert Hurdle]

The state collects 18.1 cents tax per gallon of gas, and the federal government collects 15.3 cents for each gallon of gas. The sales tax for gasoline purchases is on top of that, meaning that the state taxes the amount that includes both of these other taxes. The state gasoline tax fund was supposed to be used for transportation maintenance and infrastructure, but it has been consistently raided for other programs. I understand that the County of LA would like to have a sales tax source besides the state, because we never get our share, but taxes are too high already. On a 10 gallon purchase at $4.00 per gallon, which would be $40, the taxes amount to $6.35 of the $40, or about 18.9% (of the actual gas cost of $33.65). What has the state been doing with all that money? Robert

[Kymberleigh Richards]

The fact that people still remember the previous sales tax initiatives makes it critical, I think, to show that the revenues from those sales taxes have been -- and are continuing to be -- used for mass transit. In order for the voters to support a new tax, they need reassurance that what was approved before turned out not to be enough, 15+ years later.

Specifically, though, to the person who asked that question: Have you ever ridden the Metro Blue Line between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach? Or the Metro Red Line to/from Hollywood and the Valley? Or a Metrolink commuter train anywhere in L.A. County?

Those were all funded by the previous sales tax. Now the time has come to expand that network of mass transit, and that is why more sales tax revenue is needed.

[Denny Zane]

Assemblymember Feuer is to be congratulated for his leadership on one of the key issues for the future of Southern California - funding transportation improvements. The current system is near capacity - and we are projected to have another 3 million new residents in LA County in 30 years.

The current sales tax revenues that voters approved in 1980 and 1990 are being used maintaining and operating the current system of highways, buses and rail lines. There is no new money for new capacity - unless we ourselves create it.

Imagine the current system with 3 million more people. That's a world of hurt!

I say kudos to Assemblyman Feuer and to Metro leaders who have had the vision and courage to provide the leadership we desperately need on this issue.

[shs - studio city]

go gettem mike!

[lsm]

We have fallen woefully behind in LA and must invest to develop vitally needed mass transit as quickly as possible. At the same time, we must take appropriate care to ensure we use our investment as efficiently and effectively as possible. We need to know what projects can realistically be funded by this tax, the timeline for bringing these projects to completion; what safeguards will protect the funds from being raided for other uses; how the money can be leveraged with scarce state, federal, and private funds; what time limits should apply to the tax hike; and whether any less regressive alternatives are feasible. Depending on these answers, I suspect I will enthusiastically support this county sales tax and would appreciate reading on "Bottleneck Blog" what we can do to help secure passage.

[Dana Gabbard]

This is it! The best chance for the subway to the sea in our lifetime. After 14 years as an advocate I see a chance to finally begin making the future we knew we needed but couldn't find the clout or $$$ to make possible. Sacramento and DC are broke, we have to do it ourselves.

P.S. - the bullet train bond on the ballet in Nov. includes nearly a billion for connecting rail service; that may also help some of our dreams!

[m]

What about the sales tax increase that was already supposed to be dedicated to mass transit years ago? Where is that? Did we forget about that? Can we make sure that goes to mass transit first and then see what additional money we need?