Los Angeles County voters have been asked once again to open their wallets for another tax increase, this time in the form of Measure A. On the surface, it promises to fund homelessness prevention and affordable housing projects, but beneath the shiny packaging lies a fiscal nightmare. The county has a well-documented history of mismanaging the public funds it collects, and taxpayers should not be fooled into thinking this new measure will be any different.
The issue with Measure A is not just about raising taxes. It’s about the lack of accountability, the regressive nature of the tax itself, and the permanent nature of this increase. California already has one of the highest state-level sales tax rates in the country. In many cities within Los Angeles County, that number already exceeds 10%. Measure A would push sales taxes even higher, hitting low- and middle-income families the hardest. These are the very people who are already struggling with soaring inflation and the ever-increasing cost of living.
The main problem here is that this isn’t just a temporary tax hike to address an urgent need. Measure A is forever. There’s no sunset clause, meaning once this tax is in place, it will be with us permanently, draining billions from taxpayers with no end in sight. Even worse, the measure lacks any real oversight or accountability. Three committees are set to oversee the spending of these funds, but they conspicuously exclude participation from the business community. Instead, the committees are dominated by not-for-profit housing groups that stand to benefit directly from the tax revenues—hardly the recipe for objective oversight.
Then there’s the issue of efficiency. All projects funded by Measure A are required to use prevailing wages and Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), which are known to inflate construction costs and slow down progress. A study by RAND found that similar requirements under Measure HHH increased costs by 15%, resulting in fewer housing units being built. In a city facing a severe housing crisis, the last thing we need is to build fewer homes at a higher cost.
What’s even more alarming is that AB 1679 (Santiago), which enables Measure A, allows Los Angeles County to exceed the 2% cap on local sales taxes. This would push the total sales tax rate to 10.75% in some cities—well above the cap that was supposed to limit the tax burden on residents. It’s clear that this measure is designed to keep funneling money into the county’s ever-growing bureaucratic machine without delivering real solutions to the homelessness crisis.
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Let’s not forget, that just seven years ago, voters approved Measure H, which authorized a 0.25% county sales tax to fund homelessness prevention programs. We were promised tangible results, but instead, the number of people experiencing homelessness has only increased. The public entrusted the county with hundreds of millions of dollars, and in return, we got bloated bureaucracy, inefficient spending, and an ever-growing homeless population.
Now, proponents of Measure A want us to believe that doubling down on the same failed approach will somehow yield better results. It won’t. The taxpayers of Los Angeles County cannot afford to keep pouring money into a broken system without demanding accountability and tangible outcomes.
It’s time to put an end to the endless cycle of tax increases with no results. Vote No on Measure A. Let’s send a clear message that we are tired of paying more and getting less in return.
Instead of raising taxes yet again, the county needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with a real, effective plan to address homelessness—one that doesn’t involve permanently raising taxes on the very people it claims to help.
This time, let’s demand better. Vote No on Measure A and stop the wasteful spending.
Aidan Chao is the founder and Chairman of the Los Angeles County Taxpayers Association and CALHaven. He also serves as an advisor and political strategist on multiple LA-based campaigns and boards.