City leaders call for sales tax hike to maintain LAPD

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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city leaders voiced their support Monday for Proposition A, a measure that will increase sales tax in Los Angeles by half of a cent.

The proposition will increase sales tax in Los Angeles to nine and a half percent, the highest salex tax in the state and one of the highest in the country.

Villaraigosa says the hike would be used to both keep the police force fully staffed and to balance the budget. He says without the tax increase, the city will have to fire five hundred officers.

Police Chief Charlie Beck says the current search for Christopher Dorner shows why the department can't afford any cuts.

"Today, in this past week, shows just how thin the blue line is in Los Angeles," Beck said. "The reality is 10,000 police officers, while it's the largest this department has ever been, is certainly not any type of an excess to make this city safe."

The money collected from the increased sales tax would be placed in a general fund. The Mayor has promised that "most" of the money would be allocated to the police and fire departments.

Opponenets of the proposition like mayoral candidate Kevin James fear that the money will be missused.

"The skepticism exists because our elected officials have a lack of credibility when it comes to these kinds of increases," said James. "They told us a while back if they triple the trash fee it's going to go to put more cops on the street. We find out that money wasn't spent appropriately. It happens consistently."

Proposition A will be on the March 5th ballot.