Supervisor Don Knabe announced his opposition today to a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to pay for transit projects across Los Angeles County. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) Board of Directors, which Supervisor Knabe is a member of, is scheduled to discuss the sales tax proposal at tomorrow’s Board Meeting.

Now is not the time to burden the residents of Los Angeles County with yet another tax increase, said Supervisor Knabe. Taxpayers in our County already pay the second-highest tax rate in California, behind only Alameda County. Metro’s proposed increase would unfairly push our local tax rate even higher.

We need to make long-range investments in expanding mass transit options and improving our existing transportation infrastructure across every part of our County, but now is not the time to do it on the backs of taxpayers. We have too many people in Los Angeles County struggling to make ends meet right now. This tax increase, at this time, is an unnecessary burden on residents.