Two members of the Los Angeles City Council launched plans Friday to place a $3-billion street repair bond measure on the May 21 ballot, saying there isn't enough money to erase a 60-year repair backlog for the city's worst roads.
The proposed 20-year property tax increase comes less than two months after council members placed a separate half-cent sales tax hike on the March 5 ballot. That measure would generate more than $2.1 billion over the next decade, with much of the money going toward police and fire services.
Councilman Mitchell Englander, who drafted the proposal with Councilman Joe Buscaino, said residents are already paying for the damaged streets through wear and tear on their cars. "The No. 1 complaint we get in our office is the condition of our streets," said Englander, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley. "This would be an opportunity to fix every single failed street citywide."
The measure would need a two-thirds majority to win passage. If approved, it would add $24 annually to the property tax bill of a home valued at $350,000 in the bond measure's first year, said Buscaino chief of staff Doane Liu. In its peak year, the measure would add about $120 to the annual property bill of such a home, he said.
The plan quickly drew criticism from Mike Eveloff, president of the Tract 7260 Homeowners Assn., who warned that the property tax hike could depress the city's economy and "break the camel's back" for taxpayers. Property owners across the county are also being asked to consider a clean water fee that would add $54 to the yearly tax bill for most single-family homes.
"Crisis management always costs 10 times more than good management, and this is just another example," Eveloff said. "The city's reached a place where everything's falling apart and now they're saying, 'Well, you don't get good streets unless you pay more taxes, you won't get police unless you pay more taxes, and you won't get a good fire department unless you pay more taxes.' "
Liu defended the timing of the bond measure, which — if backed by the council and voters — would generate $300 million a year for a decade of construction projects. The separate sales tax hike does not provide money to fix the city's streets, he said.
"We've got a 60-year backlog ... and 8,700 lane miles that are category D or F" —- the worst rankings a street can receive, he said.
Two of the leading mayoral candidates — council members Jan Perry and Eric Garcetti — said they did not yet have a position on the bond measure. A third, City Controller Wendy Greuel, said she supports the idea "in principle" but would not make a decision until she has read the final language. And candidate Kevin James, a lawyer, said he is leaning against the measure.
The city currently spends $105 million annually on street repairs, said Nazario Sauceda, head of the Bureau of Street Services. In 2011, Sauceda's agency found that 37% of the city's roads were in either D or F condition. That report concluded that $2.85 billion would be needed to eliminate the backlog.
Englander said Los Angeles is in need of new street repair funding, in part, because the city no longer receives money from Proposition 1B, a state transportation bond measure passed in 2006. The councilman also said he did not believe voters would make a connection between the bond measure and the March 5 sales tax hike proposal, which is opposed by the four major mayoral candidates.
Neighborhood activist Richard Close, who signed the ballot argument in favor of the March 5 tax measure, wasn't so sure. Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., said none of the city's elected officials mentioned to him at the time that they were discussing another tax measure.
"This may be the downfall of both measures," he said.
david.zahniser@latimes.com
