LOS ANGELES : Local Enterprise Zone Plan Failing, Audit Finds

Los Angeles’ enterprise zone program--which has directed tax benefits to businesses in five high-unemployment areas, including Watts, Boyle Heights and Pacoima since 1987--is “not achieving its intended results,” according to a 55-page audit of the city’s Community Development Department, which runs the program.

President Bush and Mayor Tom Bradley have embraced the idea of federal enterprise zones to help halt decay in urban areas. The zones that presently exist in California and Los Angeles only offer state tax incentives to businesses. Bush and Bradley want to make federal income tax breaks available.

But the audit, conducted by the city’s Administrative Office, found that businesses in the enterprise zones--which also are located in the Central City and Wilmington-San Pedro areas--are not widely taking advantage of the tax credits available to them for hiring the unemployed or investing in machinery.