The City Council Vetoed a Plan to Put a Sales Tax Increase on Next Year’s Ballot. Now it is Planning on Borrowing $25 Million To Hire 250 Police Officers
By David Zahniser, Daily Breeze (California)
With plans for a public safety tax temporarily shelved, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to pursue plans to borrow $25 million to pay for the hiring of 250 additional police officers.
Councilman Greig Smith and three of his colleagues asked for an analysis of a plan that would allow the city to issue bonds to cover the cost of the extra officers over the next two years.
Smith said the money would be repaid starting in 2006 or 2007, when the state Legislature is required by law to give Los Angeles $66 million that it “borrowed” to balance its budget last year.
“They have to give that money back,” he said. “And if they don’t, the only way around it is defaulting on their state budget and declaring bankruptcy, basically.”
Smith unveiled his short-term borrowing proposal just as the council abandoned plans for putting a half-cent sales tax hike on the March 8 city ballot. The measure would have served as a sequel to Measure A, a countywide sales tax increase defeated by voters, which would have raised $560 million annually to pay for public safety.
Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said she is still willing to consider a tax hike ballot measure for the May 17 municipal runoff election. And she argued that the borrowing plan could be used to persuade voters to support a public safety tax, by showing that the council is trying to fund more police officers on its own.
“It matches our good faith with their good faith,” said Miscikowski, whose district includes Westchester and Playa del Rey.
Mayor James Hahn and the council have been searching for months for ways to meet Police Chief William Bratton’s call for 1,260 more officers. Bratton has repeatedly promised that such an influx of police would cut crime in half.
Still, Councilman Bernard Parks warned that the $66 million owed by the state Legislature is “one-time money” that shouldn’t be used to pay for ongoing personnel. Parks, who heads the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, warned that the city should establish its priorities and pay for more police through its existing budget.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a short-term solution (to the need for more officers) with bond funds or by people taxing themselves,” he said. “It’s going to have to be a commitment over a 10-year period.”
Hahn continues to support the concept of a half-cent sales tax increase for the May ballot. So far, he has not taken a position on Smith’s proposal, said mayoral spokeswoman Elizabeth Kaltman.
“The mayor says that he’s welcoming all ideas right now and he’s looking at every option,” she said. “He’s pleased that the council is thinking seriously about this issue of more police officers.”