Council Puts Police Tax on Nov. 3 Ballot : Finances: The average homeowner would pay $99 a year to hire 1,000 officers and overhaul the emergency communication system. Two-thirds of voters must agree.

Banking on the public’s fear of rising crime, the Los Angeles City Council gave final approval Tuesday to November ballot measures to pay for 1,000 additional police officers and to overhaul the city’s emergency communications system.

One of the measures would tax property owners to raise $101 million to hire 1,000 police officers and 200 civilian personnel for the Police Department and pay their pension and retirement benefits.

A companion bond measure would raise $235 million to upgrade the city’s police, fire and 911 emergency dispatch systems, and construct a backup dispatch center in the San Fernando Valley.

The proposed property tax and 20-year bond measure, both of which require a two-thirds vote to pass, would cost the average homeowner $99 a year.

The council also approved a Nov. 3 ballot measure calling for a 40-year, $1.5-billion bond measure to finance improvements in the city’s waste-water system.

Similar ballot measures to increase the size of the 7,900-member Police Department and upgrade the 911 emergency dispatch system have failed twice over the past 10 years.

Anticipating an uphill battle, Los Angeles officials, led by Mayor Tom Bradley, will appoint a campaign committee of business and community leaders this week to rally public support, amid a recession, for the measures and for other city, county and state tax initiatives on the ballot.

Marcela Howell, an adviser to Bradley, said it could cost more than $600,000 to publicize the campaign effectively. But she said she is encouraged by the overwhelming support for the police reform measure that was passed by 70% of the voters in June.

“With Charter Amendment F, voters approved reforming the Police Department,” Howell said. “With these measures, we are asking voters to give new Police Chief Willie Williams the tools he needs to carry out his job.”

Williams, in several recent public appearances, has said statistics showed a 6.1% increase in major crimes during the first three months of 1992, compared to the same period a year ago.

Some homeowner groups, however, are planning to launch efforts to defeat the property tax proposal, which they contend could be financed by other revenue sources.

“We believe the city is trying to blackmail residents by saying they will not be safe unless they pay an additional tax,” said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

Vosburgh said the money to hire more officers can be found elsewhere. “For example, by contracting out for services such as street repair, tree trimming, refuse collection and janitorial work, the city could save at least $440 million,” he said.

Other critics predicted that the measures will fail because of the city’s traditional reluctance to pass tax hikes.

“I think it will have a tough time passing because the timing is terrible,” said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political consultant.

Council members Joan Milke Flores, Ernani Bernardi and Hal Bernson agreed and voted against placing the property tax measure on the ballot.

“I don’t think it will pass because property owners just can’t afford this right now,” Flores said.

“If the council was serious about more police, it would make it a priority and pay for it out of the general fund,” Bernson said.

But Councilman Michael Woo, who supports the tax measure, said: “That’s totally unrealistic--we don’t have general fund money to spend on more police officers.”

“But we do have gang members and criminals roaming city streets, and there is no priority more important for city government than making Los Angeles safe,” Woo said. “This ballot measure will accomplish that goal by putting 1,000 more officers on the streets.”

The police tax, which would be based on property size, would cost the owner of an average 1,500-square-foot home $73 a year. The tax would be higher for larger homes, apartment buildings, commercial structures and high-rise office buildings, according to a report prepared by the city’s administrative officer.

If the tax is approved by voters, the 1,000 uniformed officers would be hired within a year and would be on the streets six months after that, Chief Williams has said.