Inglewood Postpones Vote on Police Tax

Inglewood City Council members say they still favor a proposed parcel tax to pay for 20 new police officers, but they delayed action on the plan after hearing opposition at a public hearing this week.

About 25 of the approximately 40 speakers at the meeting opposed the measure, with some threatening to seek revenge at election time against council members who vote for the proposal.

About 12 speakers supported the idea--some offering to write checks on the spot to pay for more police.

The so-called police benefit assessment district would raise $1.4 million to pay for a 20-officer anti-crime task force. The assessment would cost the owner of a single-family home about $45 a year. Owners of apartment units would pay on a sliding scale starting at $53 per unit, and charges for commercial properties would be based on street frontage.

City officials said the turnout was healthy but not overwhelming, considering that they mailed 20,000 legal notices and 40,000 newsletters announcing the public hearing. Attendance may have suffered because the Los Angeles Lakers were winning the National Basketball Assn. championship Tuesday night in the nearby Forum.

Regardless, the council heard the strongest opposition yet to the proposal during the four-hour hearing.

All four council members and Mayor Edward Vincent have also held individual meetings with constituents, and they said they had received generally favorable responses. To make the proposal more equitable, officials adjusted the assessment formula last month so owners of single-family homes would pay less and owners of apartment buildings, businesses and industrial properties would pay more.

Some opponents said the city needs more police officers but demanded the right to vote on whether more taxes are needed to pay for them. The council can set up an assessment district without a public vote, but a property tax increase dedicated for police officers would require a two-thirds vote for passage.

Others called for the city to make budget cuts to pay for the new officers, said they feared the city would raise the assessment and said the assessment would create a hardship for people on fixed incomes.

City Manager Paul Eckles said Wednesday that by law, the assessment must be reviewed each year, with public hearings, and said that any increases would be “reasonable and in line with general increases in police labor costs.”

Mayor Vincent told the audience that the 20-officer task force, combined with a reorganization of the department to put more officers on the street, is needed “to keep control of Inglewood.”

The city’s crime rate has gone down about 30% in the past six years. But Police Chief Raymond Johnson said a persistent high rate of violent crime has its roots in gang and drug problems that could get much worse.

Councilman Anthony Scardenzan, who has led the effort for more police, withdrew a motion to vote on the proposal Tuesday night after Councilman Ervin (Tony) Thomas suggested that the council take time to deliberate on comments made at the hearing.