Super Tuesday was super for taxes

Super Tuesday turned out to be super-successful for local tax measures.

In communities throughout the state, voters embraced telephone taxes, school bond measures and parcel taxes.

Southern California’s politicians and civic leaders now are talking about replicating that success by putting more levies on the general election ballot in November, when voter turnout is expected again to be high, particularly among Democrats.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn wants a $30-million tax for anti-gang programs. Smaller suburbs are weighing their own telephone tax measures. And transit advocates across Los Angeles County are using Tuesday’s results to push for a sales tax that would fund freeway projects, light-rail lines and a subway to the sea.

Politicians would be wise to notice not only the high turnout numbers, but the increased participation by younger voters -- the type willing to pay extra for more transit, said Denny Zane, executive director of Move L.A, a group that favors a tax to help pay for a subway.

“They’re not afraid of the T-word,” Zane said. “That’s who we’re going to see at the polls in November, and we should take advantage of that.”

For supporters of taxes, the election night numbers make the case: Voters in Los Angeles went nearly 2 to 1 on Tuesday for Proposition S, a $243-million telephone tax. Voters in Long Beach favored a $440-million community college bond measure by almost 3 to 1. And voters in Huntington Park backed a telephone tax by a margin of nearly 4 to 1, with 79% of the electorate favoring the measure.

Preliminary numbers for Los Angeles County put turnout at 46%, compared with 37% in the presidential primary four years ago. And tax measures in other parts of the state also made a strong showing.

Seven of seven California cities passed general taxes, the kind that needed a majority vote, according to the League of California Cities. Thirty of 38 approved school bond measures, which needed 55%. And five of six education taxes, the kind that need a two-thirds super-majority vote, prevailed.

Tuesday’s election results were being closely watched by Redondo Beach officials, who are considering a telephone tax for the November or March 2009 ballot. And other cities are growing confident enough to rewrite their telephone taxes and send them to the electorate.

“There is a growing confidence that it can be done this way,” said Michael Coleman, a League of Cities fiscal policy advisor.

One taxpayer watchdog said he didn’t necessarily have a problem with cities rushing to get their existing phone taxes on future ballots. But he warned that politicians in Los Angeles run the risk of crushing their constituents with new taxes if they press to fund transit or other services.

“High taxes are forcing the middle class out of the city,” said Kris Vosburgh, the executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn. “We’re ending up with a city of very rich and very poor.”

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa downplayed the talk of seeking more tax measures, saying his priority is the city’s budget, which could see a $300-million shortfall in the fiscal year that starts July 1. But City Councilman Jack Weiss, who represents several traffic-plagued neighborhoods on the Westside, said he remained open to the possibility of a November transit tax, in part because of Tuesday’s showing.

“The results certainly support the notion that people in the region are willing to pay more if they receive more in services,” he said.

Talk of a transit measure coincides with Hahn’s effort to get property owners to spend $38 per parcel each year for programs that steer children away from gangs. Hahn, who represents gang-scarred neighborhoods including Watts and Harbor Gateway, argued that voters might be willing to support both her measure and a transportation tax.

“The two biggest issues right now are traffic and gang violence,” she said. “I think [voters] will see the point of investing in these two.”

Still, both levies would need two-thirds approval, a higher threshold than the simple majority needed by the state’s six telephone taxes. The higher hurdle raises doubts for county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who serves on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.

Even with a $3-million war chest, Proposition S failed to surpass two-thirds of the vote -- something a transit sales tax would need, he said. Although county transportation officials are discussing the possibility of a November tax measure, Tuesday’s election would have no bearing on that decision, Yaroslavsky said.

“I think the sales tax needs to sink or swim on its own merits,” he said. “It depends on the package, on what people are buying.”

An exit poll taken in Los Angeles on election day showed that transit officials would have work to do before securing two-thirds support for a subway tax, even among the young voters who are expected to turn out in higher numbers.

The poll, taken by the Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, showed that the most favorable response for such a half-cent-on-the-dollar subway tax came from white voters and those who earn more than $80,000 annually.

Those two groups favored the tax by 62% and 64%, respectively. By comparison, Latino respondents backed a half-cent subway tax by 46% to 34%, with 10% undecided. Among voters 18 to 64, the concept received support from 55%.

The numbers are favorable considering that voters are voicing anxiety about the economy, said Jennifer Magnabosco, associate director of the Leavey Center.

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david.zahniser@latimes.com

duke.helfand@latimes.