Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said for the first time Wednesday that he would like to ask voters in November to consider a half-cent sales-tax increase in Los Angeles County to pay for more road and mass transit projects.
"I'd like to get a sales-tax initiative on the ballot, but we have to build a consensus on that first. I'm working on that as we speak," the mayor said.
An increase would raise the sales tax from 8.25% to 8.75%, which would tie the county with several other localities that have the highest sales tax in the state.
MTA board: An article in Thursday's California section about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's call for a sales tax increase for transportation said the mayor had the power to appoint four members to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board. The mayor can appoint three board members; he occupies the fourth seat.
The idea of a November transportation tax has been gaining ground with rising gas prices and increasing public pressure for new transit lines, including the Wilshire Boulevard "subway to the sea" and an extension of the Gold Line in the San Gabriel Valley.
Earlier this month, David Fleming, chairman of the Los Angeles County Business Federation, said that as a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member, he intends to vote to move the sales tax toward the November ballot. He just wants assurances that the money won't be raided later for some other government purpose.
Villaraigosa has made building a Wilshire Boulevard subway a top priority of his administration. But his efforts have made little headway largely because of the $5-billion to $7-billion price tag. Congress last year lifted a longtime ban on tunnel work under Wilshire -- but getting money to build a subway remains a major problem.
Even if a tax goes on the ballot, it remains unclear whether it would pass. Some elected officials in the San Gabriel Valley and elsewhere have questioned whether the benefits of a subway are worth the costs. Transportation officials are considering a variety of new rail lines elsewhere, including extending the Gold Line, a second phase of the Expo Line from Culver City to Santa Monica, and a new line along Crenshaw Boulevard.
I caught up with the mayor on the Red Line subway, which he was riding to North Hollywood for an MTA news conference on new rapid-bus routes.
"We're going to need to pass a half-cent sales tax initiative if we want to build a subway to the sea," the mayor said. "I'm trying to get everybody on the same page in this county, which isn't always easy."
