COMMISSION, MAYOR BACK BACA PROPOSAL POSSIBLE BALLOT MEASURE WOULD FUND OFFICERS WITH TAX.Byline: James Nash Staff Writer Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. police commissioners Tuesday endorsed a proposal to raise the sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. by a half-percent to fund police throughout Los Angeles County, including an estimated 1,000 new LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. officers. The Los Angeles Police Commission voted unanimously to support Sheriff Lee Baca's proposed countywide sales-tax ballot measure rather than pursue a tax only in Los Angeles. Hahn added his support later in the day in a letter to Baca. ``I look forward to working with you to ensure that we do not let this opportunity pass us by and to continue to work with you on all of our wide-ranging public safety initiatives,'' Hahn wrote. Baca said his proposed November 2004 ballot measure would yield $168 million for the LAPD, which is one-third of the revenue the tax would produce countywide. Baca said Los Angeles' portion could pay for 1,000 to 1,200 new police officers for the 9,200-officer department. The Sheriff's Department would get one-third of the revenue, and the remaining third would be divided among the other cities in Los Angeles County. Baca said the Sheriff's Department, local police and the LAPD need the additional revenue to pay for anti-terrorism measures, to hire more police and to imprison im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- criminals for more of their sentences. ``The entire system is now in gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. in terms of how we do justice here in Los Angeles County,'' Baca said. ``We're at a break point now where we have to say to the voters of Los Angeles County, we need your help.'' The measure would require a two-thirds vote of county voters. Baca said supporters of the measure have gathered about one-fourth of the 171,000 valid signatures they need to qualify it for the ballot. Los Angeles police commissioners had considered whether to back a parcel or sales tax in the city alone. But on Tuesday, they agreed that competing tax proposals probably would spell defeat for both. ``There's no question we're short of officers,'' Commissioner Rick Caruso said. ``I think the question is, What's the best way of getting us there?'' Baca has received support from city councils in several Los Angeles County municipalities such as Long Beach, Palmdale and Lakewood. The Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. has not taken a position. James Nash, (213) 978-0390 james.nash(at)dailynews.com |
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