Supervisors Balk at Backing Higher Sales Tax

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors balked Tuesday at endorsing legislation to increase the state sales tax, the key element of a proposal to raise money for new schools in the Santa Clarita Valley, unless the legislation is amended.

The bill by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita)--which would require approval by voters throughout the state--would boost the sales tax by a quarter-cent per dollar and allow property taxes to be raised by a majority of voters instead of requiring approval by two-thirds.

A report by the county chief administrative officer said the bill is unfair because income from the sales tax increase would go only to school districts with booming enrollments, and only to those that increase their property taxes, a difficult feat for large districts such as Los Angeles.