Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia asks for sales tax hike

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, joined by the last two people to hold the city’s top office, will ask Long Beach voters to approve a sales tax hike in order to pay for the hiring of new police officers and infrastructure spending, the mayor’s office aounced this moing.

“Our city is facing two pressing challenges. How we address this challenge will determine the kind of city we leave to future generations,” Garcia wrote in a letter co-signed by former mayors Bob Foster and Beverly O’Neill.

Garcia goes on to write the twin challenges are the city’s rising crime rates and $2.8 billion in infrastructure needs. The mayor previously spoke of a need for an “honest and constructive conversation” on raising the dollars needed to solve the latter problem during his State of the City address, during which he also pledged to reverse recent cuts to the city’s police and fire departments.

As outlined in Garcia’s letter, a possible 10-year tax hike would raise sales taxes by 1 percent for six years. The tax rate would shrink to half a cent during its final four years.

More to come.

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