LOS ANGELES — Separate sales tax measures for transit and for streets are on paths toward the ballot in Los Angeles County.
A transportation advocacy group's push for a half-cent sales tax to support the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority rail projects may compete with a proposal for a half-cent tax in the city of Los Angeles to balance the budget and repair the city's streets and sidewalks.
Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana proposed a half-cent sales tax two weeks ago in a 37-page report in which he also challenged city leaders to set a goal of eliminating the structural deficit by 2018.
A public hearing for Santana's proposal is slated for Wednesday. The measure, which would go before voters in November, would generate $4.5 billion over 15 years.
Move LA, a transportation advocacy group led by Denny Zane, a former Santa Monica mayor, unveiled its proposal for a half-cent sales tax that could raise $90 billion over 45 years to pay for mass transit projects during a day-long conference Friday in downtown Los Angeles. His proposal would place a measure on the election year ballot in 2016.
Formed in 2007, Move LA helped propel efforts to pass Measure R, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2008. The advocacy group is calling the new effort Measure R2.
The 13-member Metro board has discussed placing an extension to Measure R, which expires in 2039, on the ballot in 2016, to accelerate transportation projects, but nothing has been decided, said Marc Littman, a Metro spokesman.
Measure J, a ballot measure proposed by Metro for the November 2012 election that would have extended Measure R by 30 years to 2069 failed by a slim 1% to achieve the required two-thirds supermajority.
The Metro board also has been discussing placing an entirely new sales tax measure on the ballot.
"There has been some discussion, but it hasn't come back to the board for formal action," Littman said. "We are in the process of getting feedback from various communities throughout Los Angeles County."
The board is targeting 2016, because presidential elections draw more voters.
If Santana's proposed city sales tax were to be approved for the ballot, and then passed in November, that is something the Metro board would take into account, Littman said, since many of the Metro district's voters are in the city.
The measures would need two-thirds supermajorities to pass.
"We have to be aware of voter fatigue," Littman said. "It costs more than $10 million to put a measure on the ballot; we have to consider whether we have a viable chance of the measure passing."
The board also has to decide if it should be an extension of Measure R, as recommended by Move LA, or a brand new sales tax.
"A lot goes into it," Littman said. "I don't think people realize how expensive it is."
Santana had recommended two years ago that city leaders put a half-cent sales tax on the ballot to fund street and sidewalk repairs. With several other proposals being floated at the time, including a parcel tax proposal, the city council failed to adopt the recommendation.
