It\u2019s one thing most everyone agrees on: federal funding cuts have left the Los Angeles County health system teetering toward financial collapse.<\/p>\n
But the supervisors\u2019 chosen antidote \u2014 a half-cent sales tax<\/a> to replenish county coffers \u2014 is being condemned by a slew of cities as its own form of financial catastrophe.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard from every city in my district,\u201d said Kathryn Barger, the only supervisor who voted against putting the sales tax on the June ballot.<\/p>\n The resounding reaction? \u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are fatigued,\u201d Barger said. \u201cI\u2019m not convinced that it\u2019s going to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019re reading the L.A. on the Record newsletter <\/p>\n Observers wouldn\u2019t have sensed that fatigue from the rowdy crowd of supporters that filled the board meeting Tuesday, along with seldom-used overflow rooms. The supervisors voted 4-1 at the meeting to put the tax on the ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cThere really are no other viable and timely options,\u201d said Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who introduced the measure along with Supervisor Hilda Solis. \u201cTrust me, I looked high and low.\u201d<\/p>\n The goal, supervisors say, is to generate $1 billion per year to backfill the dwindling budgets of local hospitals and clinics battered by federal funding cuts.<\/p>\n The county\u2019s already bracing for impact. The Department of Public Health announced Friday it would shutter seven clinics. Officials say it\u2019s just the beginning, with the county poised to lose more than $2 billion in funding for health services over the next three years. Hospitals could be down the road, they warn. <\/p>\n But many cities, some of which could have local sales tax hit more than 11%, are revolting on the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been getting calls and texts and letters like honestly I have not gotten in a long time,\u201d Supervisor Janice Hahn told the audience as a message from Jeff Wood \u2014 the vice mayor of Lakewood \u2014 pinged on her phone. \u201cThey are really diving in on this one.\u201d<\/p>\n In a series of opposition letters<\/a>, the cities unleashed a torrent of criticism. Norwalk called the tax \u201crushed.\u201d Palmdale said it had \u201csignificant flaws.\u201d Glendale found it \u201cdeeply troubling and fundamentally unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n Some bristled at the cost to consumers. Palmdale and Lancaster \u2014 some of the poorest cities in the county \u2014 could wind up with some of the highest sales tax rates<\/a> in the state if the measure passes.<\/p>\n Some cities say the bigger issue is they don\u2019t trust the county. They point to its checkered history of pushing ballot measures that don\u2019t live up to their promises.<\/p>\n Measure B, a special parcel tax, was passed in 2002<\/a> to fund the county\u2019s trauma center network. An audit more than a decade later<\/a> found the county couldn\u2019t prove it used the money for emergency medical services.<\/p>\n Measure H, the homelessness services tax measure, was passed in 2017 as a temporary tax. Voters agreed in 2024 to make the tax permanent and to double the rate \u2014 though some cities insist they\u2019ve never gotten their fair share of the funds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a historical issue,\u201d said Glendora mayor David Fredendall, whose city opposes the sales tax. \u201cWe don\u2019t trust it.\u201d<\/p>\n The county decided to put the sales tax on the ballot as a general tax, meaning the money goes into the general fund. Legally, supervisors could use the money for whatever services they desire. <\/p>\n \u201cThey say \u2018No, this is our plan\u2019, but we\u2019re going to expand<\/a> from five to nine supervisors over the next few years before this tax expires,\u201d said Marcel Rodarte, the head of the California Contract Cities Assn., a coalition of cities inside the county. \u201cThey may say we need to use these funds for something else.\u201d<\/p>\n A general tax also is easier to pass, since it needs only a majority vote. Special taxes \u2014 levies earmarked for a specific purpose \u2014 need two-thirds of the vote. <\/p>\n The measure also asks voters to approve the creation of an oversight group that would monitor where the money goes. The supervisors also voted on a spending plan<\/a> for the tax money, which would dedicate the largest portion of funds for uninsured residents over the next five years.<\/p>\n Some opponents predict the tax will stick around longer than advertised.<\/p>\n \u201cA temporary tax is like Bigfoot,\u201d said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., a group that advocates for lower taxes. \u201cIt exists in fantasy.\u201d<\/p>\n State of play<\/p>\n \u2014 FRIENDLY FIRE: Three hours before the filing deadline, L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman jumped<\/a> into the race for mayor, challenging her former ally Karen Bass. Her candidacy will be Bass\u2019 most serious threat.<\/p>\n \u2014 DEFUND DETOUR: Shortly after, Raman staked<\/a> out her position on cops, saying she doesn\u2019t want the LAPD to lose more police. Raman called for department downsizing when she first ran for city council in 2020. <\/p>\n \u2014 LOYAL LABOR: The head of the AFL-CIO, the county\u2019s powerful labor federation, blasted<\/a> Raman as an \u201copportunist.\u201d Federation president Yvonne Wheeler said her organization will \u201cuse every tool\u201d at its disposal to get Bass reelected.<\/p>\n \u2014 PETITION PUSH: Scores of candidates for L.A. city offices picked up their petitions Feb. 7, launching their effort to collect the signatures they need to qualify for the ballot. The first to turn in a petition was Councilmember Traci Park, who is facing two challengers while running for reelection in a coastal district.<\/p>\n \u2014 EYES ON ICE: Los Angeles police officers must turn on their body cameras if they\u2019re at the scene of federal immigration enforcement operations, according to a new executive directive<\/a> issued by Bass. LAPD officers also must document the name and badge number of the agents\u2019 on-scene supervisor.<\/p>\n \u2014 CONTESTING CLEANUPS: A federal judge ruled this week that the city of L.A. violated the constitutional rights<\/a> of homeless people by seizing and destroying their personal property during encampment cleanups. Lawyers for the plaintiffs want U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer to issue an injunction requiring the city to give homeless people the opportunity to contest the seizure of their property.<\/p>\n \u2014 HOTEL HIKE: Voters in the June 2 election will be asked to hike the city\u2019s tax<\/a> on nightly hotel stays \u2014 increasing it to 16% from 14% \u2014 for the next three years. The tax would then drop to 15% in 2029.<\/p>\n \u2014 PAYDAY POLITICS: The county is considering a proposal<\/a> that would remove supervisors\u2019 final decision-making power in contract disputes involving sheriff\u2019s deputies and firefighters. Supporters say it\u2019ll take politics out of labor negotiations while opponents warn of bloated labor costs.<\/p>\n QUICK HITSWhere is Inside Safe? The mayor\u2019s signature homelessness program went to Los Angeles City Council District 13, bringing 50 unhoused Angelenos indoors from an encampment. That\u2019s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com<\/a>. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here<\/a> to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s one thing most everyone agrees on: federal funding cuts have left the Los Angeles County health system…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10706,7,9,8,1409,2323,6703,4579,3802,2424,3985,2303,63,534,10263,1519,430,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-178093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-barger","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-headlines","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-city","13":"tag-council","14":"tag-county-government","15":"tag-district","16":"tag-fire","17":"tag-friday","18":"tag-horvath","19":"tag-l-a","20":"tag-los-angeles-times","21":"tag-pacific-palisades","22":"tag-region","23":"tag-trump","24":"tag-week","25":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
On the docket next week: The county\u2019s back to its marathon budget briefings. Tune in Tuesday for presentations from the sheriff, district attorney and probation department. Stay in touch<\/p>\n