All the recent talk about “affordability” was just talk.
That’s the message the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors sent this week when theyvoted to propose a 0.5% sales tax.
That would push sales taxes in LA County — already among the highest in the country — from 9.75% to 10.25%. And that would be even higher in some cities.
Four of the board’s five members — Hilda L. Solis, Holly J. Mitchell, Lindsey P. Horvath, and Janice Hahn — voted in favor of the sales tax hike.
Only one — the lone Republican, Kathryn Barger — voted against it.
Mitchell gave a lengthy presentation about why the county supposedly needs the additional revenue. She blamed President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which has tightened the rules for eligibility for Medicaid funding (which takes the form of Medi-Cal in California).
Supposedly, one in three residents will be affected by Medicaid cuts. The county supervisors say they need to make up the shortfall by raising sales taxes.
But why should taxpayers — including the poor — have to foot the bill, especially to benefit people who may have no legal right to be here at all?
Sales taxes are a regressive tax, meaning that they hurt the poor more than the rich. That’s because sales of goods and services are a larger proportion of the income of lower-income families.
Mitchell said that the sales tax hike is “temporary,” and that it would expire in 2031.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
