LA Times: Sales tax hike could fund subway to sea

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Sales tax hike could fund subway to sea
L.A. County voters may decide on the half-cent increase in November's election.
By Steve Hymon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 11, 2008


If enthusiasm can get a subway built, the long-sought underground rail line from downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific gained a modicum of momentum Thursday after a day-long meeting of leaders focused on getting the $7-billion project built after decades of inaction, study and lots of, well, talk.

Casting an eye toward the November presidential election, several key politicians said they were open to asking voters to approve a tax increase to partially pay for the so-called "subway to the sea" and a slew of other road and mass transit projects in Los Angeles County.

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. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-subway11jan11,1,1191159.story?ctrack=1&cset=true