LA County already taxed to the max – Latest News
All the latest speak about “affordability” was simply speak.
That’s the message the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors despatched this week after they voted to suggest a 0.5% gross sales tax.
That would push gross sales taxes in LA County — already amongst the highest in the nation — from 9.75% to 10.25%. And that will be even increased in some cities.
Four of the board’s 5 members — Hilda L. Solis, Holly J. Mitchell, Lindsey P. Horvath, and Janice Hahn — voted in favor of the gross sales tax hike.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to suggest a 0.5% gross sales tax. David Franco/Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Only one — the lone Republican, Kathryn Barger — voted in opposition to it.
Mitchell gave a prolonged presentation about why the county supposedly wants the further income. She blamed President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which has tightened the guidelines for eligibility for Medicaid funding (which takes the type of Medi-Cal in California).
Supposedly, one in three residents shall be affected by Medicaid cuts. The county supervisors say they need to make up the shortfall by raising gross sales taxes.
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But why ought to taxpayers — together with the poor — have to foot the invoice, particularly to benefit people who might have no legal proper to be right here in any respect?
Sales taxes are a regressive tax, which means that they damage the poor more than the wealthy. That’s as a result of gross sales of items and providers are a bigger proportion of the income of lower-income households.
Mitchell mentioned that the gross sales tax hike is “temporary,” and that it might expire in 2031.
We’ve been in that film earlier than. There are no “temporary” taxes.
In 2017, voters have been requested to contemplate a quarter-cent gross sales tax in Measure H to fund homeless providers. That was supposed to be momentary, expiring in 2017.
But why ought to taxpayers — together with the poor — have to foot the invoice? Heaven Skincare / SWNS
That tax was simply prolonged indefinitely final 12 months in Measure A, which repealed Measure H, solely to raise gross sales tax one other half a %, a web hike of 0.25%.
Mitchell argued that the county would pay more in the long run with no tax hike, as a result of people who couldn’t get hold of “free” health care would develop larger health issues over time. They would begin displaying up in emergency rooms, putting a larger burden on the system.
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That’s an argument for preventative care, however the Medi-Cal cuts aren’t nearly preventative care.
The proven fact that the county desires to raise taxes for the basic fund, reasonably than earmarking them particularly for health care, additionally raises suspicions.
Are the supervisors merely utilizing health care as a ruse — threatening residents, in impact, by telling them people will die in the event that they don’t agree to pay more taxes?
There’s hardly ever a dialogue about how to cut spending, or how to spend more effectively.
Our leaders merely deal with residents as if now we have an countless tolerance for more taxes, more charges, more rules, and more paperwork.
Before voting on one more tax increase, let’s see a proposal to spend the county’s present finances more properly.
With a finances close to $50 billion, there has to be room for maneuver.
County residents — particularly the poorest — are already taxed to the restrict.
