Long Beach's sales tax backers file campaign papers

The backers of ballot measure that would raise Long Beach’s sales tax rate in order to pay for infrastructure and public safety have filed paperwork to create an official campaign committee.

The documents, filed Friday in the City Clerk’s office, dubbed the committee the “Mayor Garcia, Foster & O’Neill Committee to Support the Measures A & B to Protect Police & Fire and Repair Infrastructure in Long Beach.” Having a committee means the ballot measure’s supporters have the means to raise and spend campaign dollars, but Mayor Robert Garcia said major campaign efforts are not expected to begin for a few weeks.

“I think most folks out there are focused on the April election,” he said. “Right after the April election, I’ll be pretty engaged.”

Garcia also said Eric Hacopian, his campaign consultant for his mayoral bid, will run the ballot measure campaign.

Long Beach’s Primary Election for City Council seats representing Long Beach’s 2nd, 6th and 8th districts is scheduled for April 12. The ballot measure is set to appear on the June 7 ballot.

Garcia, joined by former mayors Bob Foster and Beverly O’Neill proposed the sales tax measure in February. The ballot measure would raise sales taxes in Long Beach above the current 9 percent rate by a one-percent rate increase for six years. The added rate increase would drop to half a percentage point for the next four years before the tax increase goes off the books.

Garcia and other supporters have called for the sales tax increase to finance backlogged infrastructure repairs and to reverse recent budget cuts affecting Long Beach’s police and fire departments.

Another campaign filing related to the ballot measure shows the Long Beach Police Officers Association’s political arm spent a little more than $13,300 on polling to find out if city voters may agree to a tax measure. The leaders of the city’s police and fire unions supported Garcia’s efforts to gauge potential voter interest in a tax, and Police Officers Association President Steve James said the union will likely coordinate with the ballot measure’s campaign in their attempts to win voters over.

“It’s critical to us, but it’s critical to us so we can provide the services we feel we should be providing,” he said.

The measure isn’t the only tax decision on the calendar for Long Beach’s electorate. Long Beach Community College District officials have placed an $850 million bond measure, called Measure LB, on the June ballot.

What’s more, Long Beach Unified School District officials have been considering their own bond measure for the November ballot. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority leaders also have their own plans for a half-cent sales tax measure that, if approved by voters, could be in effect for as long as a half century.

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