Los Angeles residents and Latino small business owners in Los Angeles County are divided over the Board of Supervisors' proposed sales tax increase, while the county's Public Health Department has announced the closure of seven community clinics by February 27

“We already pay taxes. I don't want any more,” says Lupita Varela, owner of Lupitas Flowers in East Los Angeles.

“Everything is so expensive. I don’t agree with paying more taxes,” says Melchor Moreno, manager of La Chispa de Oro restaurant in Boyle Heights.

The small business owners’ concerns are echoed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

“We believe voters will be skeptical of this tax when they are informed that this increase is not earmarked for healthcare funding, but is a general tax, and that the money can be used for any purpose,” stated Susan Shelley, spokesperson for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

“The sales tax in Los Angeles County is already too high, and people are struggling to cover their daily needs,” she added. “It’s very unfair to raise the sales tax, since it’s regressive, meaning it affects a larger percentage of low-income people and a smaller percentage of high-income people. It’s very hard on working people.”

Supporting the community and saving Medi-Cal

However, there are others in favor of the proposal to pay more.

Francisco Flores, a mechanic from Palmdale, and his wife, Carmen Falcon, say they agree to pay the half-cent sales tax that will be on the June ballot.

“If it’s to help the community, I would vote yes for the new tax,” said Carmen.

Meanwhile, Angelica Centeno, a resident of Boyle Heights, said she would support the tax to save her three-year-old daughter Karelly’s Medi-Cal.

The impact would be extensive

Voter opinions are divided between those who feel “suffocated” by the tax rate and those who recognize the looming projections of community clinic closures, the potential layoff of nearly 5,000 unionized county workers, and reduced emergency room care.

The county Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of the 1/2-cent sales tax measure, which would last for five years through 2031. The dissenting vote came from Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

“The Trump administration has eliminated more than $1 trillion in Medicaid funding through Health Act 1 (HR 1) to expand inhumane immigration enforcement and grant tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, cutting crucial funding for the social safety net hospitals and community clinics our communities depend on,” said Supervisor Barger. Hilda Solis.

In Los Angeles County, one in three Angelenos depends on Medi-Cal for their health coverage and their services would be affected. It is projected that 1.5 million low-income residents will lose coverage entirely by next year. “The impact in Los Angeles County will be extensive. Already, more than half a million undocumented residents of Los Angeles County who rely on Medi-Cal are at risk because the state of California froze enrollment earlier this year due to budget pressures,” said the County Board Chair. Current estimates suggest that these combined pressures could result in up to 5,000 layoffs, affecting unionized workers, contract staff, and frontline healthcare employees. Solis painted a bleak picture, indicating that this health funding crisis will not only affect Medi-Cal patients. “When community clinics close and urgent care services are reduced, patients don’t disappear,” she emphasized. “They are forced to go to fewer urgent care centers and hospitals, leading to longer wait times, higher costs, and worse health outcomes across the region, even for families with private insurance.

No Accountability Guarantees

For Supervisor Kathryn Barger (District 5), who represents approximately two million Angelenos, despite the $1.1 billion in federal funding cuts under what is known as the “Great Beautiful Act,” replacing the loss of that money at the expense of county taxpayers “is unacceptable.”

“Los Angeles County residents are already stretched to the limit of their resources,”He told La Opinion.

Last year, Bloomberg News reported that Los Angeles now has the highest sales tax rates of any major metropolitan region in the country.

“This proposed half-cent increase would push us even further toward making our county less affordable for families, less attractive for consumers to shop, and less attractive for businesses to operate,” said Barger, who nevertheless acknowledged that the healthcare challenges are real and demand serious solutions.

“Simply raising taxes without real guarantees or accountability is not the solution,” he warned. “We should demand greater commitment from our state legislators and advocate more forcefully for sustainable funding solutions.” She argued that imposing an additional burden on taxpayers, without any certainty that the money will be spent as intended, is not responsible fiscal policy. “President Trump and the Republican Congress have made devastating cuts to our local social safety net, eliminating essential healthcare and support that many families depend on,” said Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath (District 3). She added that these cuts have placed Los Angeles County in an extremely difficult position, forcing them to make critical decisions to protect basic services. “My decision to support my colleagues’ motion to send this temporary tax to the voters reflects the seriousness of those decisions,” she said. Horvath introduced amendments to the motion to ensure transparency and accountability, “so that the public has a clear voice and taxpayers know how their money will be used.” money if voters approve the tax.”

A Crisis That Will Cost Everyone

Supervisor Holly Mitchell, co-author of the tax proposal along with Hilda Solis, justified her vote in favor of the tax by saying that, after doing everything possible to reduce costs, including freezing hiring, limiting overtime, and using emergency reserve funds,

Mitchell asked Angelenos not to take the tax lightly.

“We are facing a serious crisis that is going to cost us all,” she noted.

I justify that, if voters approve the ballot measure in June, the temporary 1/2-cent sales tax will translate to about 50 cents for every $100 spent and will not apply to essential items such as food, medicine, and items purchased with SNAP (food stamps) or WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Babies and Children).Mitchell stated that the county “cannot cover the more than $2.4 million shortfall in federal funding cuts for the Los Angeles County health system and essential services without asking voters to decide on a temporary half-cent sales tax.” The figure mentioned by Mitchell is more than double what Hilda Solis stated.

Other realities revealed

To this bleak picture should be added the Board of Supervisors' agreements to increase the wages of unionized county workers, the 2% cost-of-living adjustment, which amounts to about $181 million in costs, plus the outstanding payment to settle the case of approximately 11,000 plaintiffs alleging sexual abuse by county workers, some dating back to the 1950s.

A payment of $1.2 billion is contemplated, the first of several in a $4 billion settlement, which increased by $828 million in October when 400 more plaintiffs alleged they were victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of county workers.

These settlements were approved thanks to the enactment of Assembly Bill 218, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse allegations.

Seven clinics to close on February 27

Supervisor Janice Hahn said, “The federal government has turned its back on the more than 3 million people in Los Angeles County who rely on Medi-Cal for their health care. This funding cut has left us in an extremely difficult situation, with the possibility that hospitals and clinics may have to close. That is why we are giving Los Angeles County voters the option to pay taxes to cover the deficit created by the federal government.”