Are Los Angeles Tax and Bond Measures in Trouble?

With the backdrop of major a slowing economy and a financial crisis, voters in Los Angeles are in struggling whether to pass major bond and tax measures.

The county of Los Angeles as the following measures:

• Measure J: Los Angeles Community College District, $3.5 Billion Bond
  
• Measure Q: Los Angeles Unified School District, $7 Billion Bond
• Measure R: Los Angeles County, Half Cent Sales Tax for Transportation Improvement

Measures J and Q require 55 percent to pass and Measure R require approval by of over two thirds of voters. That is over $10 billion in bonds alone. In addition to that there are other smaller school bonds for other local districts.

According to the LA Times each measure may be facing stiff opposition from voters as they are asked how much to contribute to the public good.

Measure R, with the two-thirds requirement appears to be doing well.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is working with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to pass the half-cent sales tax increase known as Measure R, said voter opinion polls taken all the way through last month -- even during the onset of the global credit crunch -- show the transportation measure at the two-thirds needed for passage.

Backers of Measure R argue that it could recharge the economy by creating 210,000 jobs. And Yaroslavsky said residents are determined to do something about traffic, even if that means being choosy on election day. "Voters are discriminating. They will say 'yes' to this and 'no' to that," he said.

The question about the bond measures is whether or not voters have fatigue from approving many bonds in the past. The bonds in Los Angeles, which are paid by increased property taxes, are going to increase the tax burden on local residents. Again according to the Times.

To cover the cost of the last four bond measures, property owners are paying $125 per year for every $100,000 that a home is worth, according to school district officials. That figure is expected to reach $185 in 2012 even if Measure Q is defeated, because of the debt incurred from bond measures passed in 1997, 2002, 2004 and 2005.

To put it another way, a home worth $350,000 is now seeing an extra $437 in annual property taxes from L.A. Unified's previous bond measures. By 2012, that amount will reach $637.

If Measure Q passes, a $350,000 home will be assessed at an average of $101 in property taxes per year over the 30-year life of the bond, according to the district. But school officials promise that those taxes won't go into effect until more of the debt from the previous bonds is paid off, keeping the burden from exceeding $185 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

We will see what the voters say on November 4th.