DEADLINE MISSED ON COUNTY TAX VOTE.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles County Supervisors deadlocked 2-2 on Tuesday on whether to put five measures on the November ballot asking voters to authorize taxes that the county is all ready collecting.

The county will continue to collect and bank, but not spend, the money, to the tune of $55 million annually, while it awaits legislation or judicial action clarifying whether the taxes are legal.

Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky opposed going to the voters Nov. 5, saying it would be unwise to pay for an election if legislation or a judicial decision rendered the vote moot.

``If we're going to conduct an election, I think we should do it right the first time,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``As awkward as it is, I'm going to hold my vote.''

Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke was absent from the panel on vacation.

Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich and Deane Dana proposed the vote on whether the county should continue collecting taxes on utility customers, amusement park tickets, landfill gross receipts, landfill dumping fees and renters of hotel rooms.

Whether these taxes are legal under state law was called into question by a state Supreme Court decision in December. But it is not clear whether the decision in a case unrelated to Los Angeles County affects taxes in place before the decision came down. So the county is impounding the tax money in an account until the legal questions are answered.

``My position is if we are collecting those taxes, we should spend them,'' said Antonovich. ``But we should have a vote of the public about whether we should keep collecting the taxes in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99. The voters should have a voice.''

The 2-2 deadlock means that the issue is dead for the current election cycle because state law requires that all measures for the November ballot be added by the end of this week.

The board did approve two ballot measures that would affect the pay of two elected officials and eliminate civil service protections for some top management jobs as they are vacated.