By Los Angeles County Politics
It’s not exactly throwing tea into Boston Harbor, but a coalition of 18 Los Angeles County cities is staging its own taxation-without-representation revolt — this time against the county government that is supposed to represent them.
The rebellion centers on Measure ER, the half-cent countywide sales tax on the June 2 ballot that supporters say is urgently needed to offset federal Medicaid cuts that threaten to collapse the county’s safety-net health system. The cities don’t dispute the healthcare crisis.
What they dispute is being asked — again — to swallow a countywide tax increase with no guarantee the money comes back to the communities that generated it, and no financial safeguards of the kind voters were promised when they approved Measure A just two years ago.
“In the past, our residents have contributed to countywide sales taxes without seeing a fair return for our community,” said La Verne Mayor Tim Hepburn. “This proposal would create a general sales tax that allows the County to spend the funds with broad discretion, and there is no guarantee that the revenues generated in La Verne would come back to benefit our residents. That lack of certainty is a significant concern for our City.”
The coalition — which includes Calabasas, Malibu, Glendale, Carson, Arcadia, Artesia, Azusa, Lomita, Lakewood, Rancho Palos Verdes, San Fernando, and seven others — spans the county’s political and geographic spectrum. Affluent Westside communities sit alongside working-class South Bay cities and San Gabriel Valley municipalities.
Their opposition is aimed not just at Measure ER itself but at Assembly Bill 1768 — the state legislation that makes Measure ER legally possible. In plain terms, AB 1768 raises the state’s ceiling on how much combined local sales tax an area can collect — without it, Measure ER cannot legally take effect even if voters approve it.
As of May 14, the bill had passed the Assembly and moved to the California Senate — meaning the legislation that makes Measure ER valid has not yet been signed into law even as voters are being asked to approve the underlying tax.
The League of California Cities, LA County Division, noted in its formal opposition letter to AB 1768 that the county’s new tax proposal comes less than two years after County voters agreed to Measure A, another 0.5% sales tax increase that is exempt from the state sales tax cap.
“Facing few political options, the County Board of Supervisors has approved a general tax with none of the financial safeguards included in Measure A. We believe this is a fatal flaw and our Division cannot support a $1 billion blank check,” the League wrote.
On the Board of Supervisors, Kathryn Barger was the lone vote against placing Measure ER on the June ballot. The other four supervisors supported it. Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Hilda Solis, who co-authored the motion, voted yes on February 10 to put the question before voters.
“We have a responsibility to deliver care and services throughout LA County, even when the federal government cuts funding,” Mitchell said. “We are talking about 50 cents for every $100 dollars to help ensure critical services and healthcare is available when we need it the most.”
A March poll of Los Angeles city voters — conducted between March 10 and March 15 and first reported by the Los Angeles Daily News — showed Measure ER losing among that subset of the electorate, with 47% opposed and 45% in support. No countywide poll has been publicly released.
City of LA voters historically trend more favorably toward tax increases than the broader county electorate, suggesting opposition may run even deeper across all 88 cities.
