Prop. 172: A Very Small Price to Pay : A half-cent sales tax extension for vital services

You may not have heard much yet about Proposition 172 on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot, but chances are you will soon. This vital constitutional amendment would place a one-half percent state sales tax rate in the state’s Constitution, permanently extending the half-cent state sales tax, which is due to expire at the end of this year. Proposition 172 is a worthy effort to head off more dangerous cuts in local government, and particularly in critical local law enforcement services.

Let’s be clear about what 172 is and what it is not:

Proposition 172 is not a new tax. Nor is it a tax increase. Rather, passage of this measure, which requires a majority vote, simply will leave in place a half-cent of the state-imposed 7.25% or 7.25-cent sales tax, originally enacted two years ago as a temporary increase. Counties can and do add local sales taxes on top of the state’s tax. Los Angeles County residents pay an additional 1% for a total of 8.25%; those who live in Orange County pay 0.5% more for a total of 7.75%.

Proposition 172 would not “rescue” local government services, severely shaken by California’s seemingly unending recession and the resulting state budget crisis. But passage of this measure is important because it is designed to ward off further deep cuts this year and may indeed allow some fire, police and sheriff’s departments and other law enforcement agencies to make some small additions to their staffs or equipment.

LOCAL SHOCK: To meet the state’s budgetary obligations, the governor and the Legislature reallocated $4 billion in local property tax revenue in the last two years, revenue that typically has supported local government services. As a result, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has lost 800 deputies through attrition in the last two years; the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is down 100 officers. The Los Angeles Police Department, like police departments and sheriff’s departments across the state, has lost officers and gone without new equipment for far too long. Meanwhile, crime has continued to increase. A constitutional amendment was not necessary to extend the one-half cent sales tax; the Legislature could have done so but instead left it to the voters.

LOCAL RELIEF: Proposition 172 is expected to generate about $1.5 billion annually, to be distributed to cities and counties and dedicated to law enforcement services. Those services can include not just police, fire, district attorneys and corrections but also such important and financially strapped social services as gang awareness and prevention programs. Money spent to steer children away from crime yields more savings in outlays for police officers, weapons and prison construction. But increasingly, there’s no money for that purpose.

It is a measure of how desperately needed these funds are that for once Democrats and Republicans have not faced off over a tax proposal. Rather, 172 has the support of the leadership of both parties in the Legislature, in addition to that of Gov. Pete Wilson. Moreover, in addition to law enforcement’s backing, 172 has the support of such unfamiliar bedfellows as the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Teachers Assn., the California Labor Federation, the California Rainbow Coalition and dozens of other organizations.

But even with this remarkable coalition, voter apathy or indifference could prove fatal to this much-needed measure. A “yes” vote on Proposition 172 is more than just wise: It’s hard to see how law and order can be maintained on our streets without it.