{"id":899921,"date":"2026-06-29T03:22:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T03:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/899921\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T03:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T03:22:28","slug":"la-voters-pass-another-tax-thatll-impact-almost-all-shopping-trips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/899921\/","title":{"rendered":"LA voters pass another tax that\u2019ll impact almost all shopping trips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles County has voted to jack up the prices<\/a> they pay for everyday items by approving a sales-tax increase \u2014 in a move critics say will backfire by sending residents across county lines for shopping trips.<\/p>\n

Measure ER<\/a>, which passed by more than 25,000 votes, is set to increase sales taxes by half a cent to raise $1 billion annually for hospitals, local health departments and low-income residents needing insurance.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles County Registrar\u2019s Office certified the June 2 primary results on Friday, with the LA County Board of Supervisors scheduled to declare the election officially over during its meeting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"Measure<\/p>\n

Measure ER was narrowly leading a week after the election. Katie Avery for CA Post<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles County has voted to jack up the prices they pay for everyday items by approving a sales-tax increase. California Post<\/p>\n

The tax hike \u2014 which raises the current 9.75% rate to 10.25% \u2014 increases prices on items ranging from furniture and electronics at a time when LA residents are already drowning in rising costs<\/a> \u2014 as inflation on gas and groceries have drained people\u2019s wallets.<\/p>\n

California already has the highest sales tax in the nation, and with county and local taxes included, consumers will pay close to 12% sales tax in some areas of Los Angeles that have adopted higher municipal taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going to travel across county lines to purchase items, when you\u2019re sitting at 12% sales tax up in Lancaster, 11.75% up in Lancaster and Palmdale \u2026 you\u2019re going to jump across the border to Orange County and buy and save 3%,\u201d said Aidan Chao of the Los Angeles County Taxpayers Association.<\/p>\n

\"Kris<\/p>\n

Kris Cuyvers would \u201cabsolutely\u201d leave the county to save on sales tax. Rafael Fontoura for CA Post<\/p>\n

\"Car<\/p>\n

Car purchase will be affected by the new tax. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Angelenos buying a $40,000 car, for example, would pay $200 in additional tax under Measure ER. A $3,000 living room set would come with a $20 additional tee and a $1,000 iPhone would cost more than $5 extra.<\/p>\n

It adds up \u2014 especially for working people crushed by sky-high home and gas prices<\/a>, Chao added.<\/p>\n

\"Californians<\/p>\n

Californians could pay more for the latest iPhone under Measure ER. Reuters<\/p>\n

\"Retail<\/p>\n

Retail shops on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Rafael Fontoura for CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you may say \u2018a few dollars here and there is not much,\u2019 sometimes a few dollars is a lot to those who are living paycheck to paycheck and need those few dollars to pay their rent,\u201d Chao added. \u201cIt seems like a lot when people can\u2019t even pay for their gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Measure ER, backed by nonprofit St. John\u2019s Community Health and Service Employees International Union, was advertised as \u201chalf a penny to save lives\u201d to make up for President Donald Trump\u2019s federal funding cuts<\/a> and endorsed by labor and progressive groups.<\/p>\n

\"Warren<\/p>\n

Warren Johnson opposed the tax, saying the increases aren\u2019t helping. Rafael Fontoura for CA Post<\/p>\n

The tax does goes into effect on October 1, 2026 and is set to expire in 2031.<\/p>\n

Advocates say funds will pay for health care services, but in practice, revenues will simply go into LA county\u2019s general fund for local electeds to allocate as they see fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend so much money in taxes, we contribute so much and look around here,\u201d said Kris Cuyvers, who voted against the tax.<\/p>\n

He said he would \u201cabsolutely\u201d leave the county to buy certain items if it meant significant savings.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n

Chris Maese voted for Measure ER, but said tax dollars must be \u201cspent responsibly.\u201d Rafael Fontoura for CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believed, we were taught to keep increasing taxes, it\u2019s going to help \u2014 we see it\u2019s not helping,\u201d added Warren Johnson, who also voted against the tax.<\/p>\n

Tax advocates said they felt it was important to pay their fair share to help the community. But even supporters of the tax agreed that money needs to be spent wisely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to figure out a way to make sure it\u2019s being spent responsibly and then people would be more willing to give more,\u201d said Chris Maese, who voted for Measure ER.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People shop along Abbot Kinney in Los Angeles. Rafael Fontoura for CA Post<\/p>\n

Adam Michel, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, called tax hikes a \u201cdisease\u201d afflicting liberal cities.<\/p>\n

Voters may approve tax hikes with good intentions but they simply paper over bad governance, according to Michel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sort of easily sold as just a little bit more of other people\u2019s money will solve all of our problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some locals could face sticker shock when the tax goes into effect and make them hesitant to buy those big-ticket items.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime the tax rate goes up, it does impact taxpayers\u2019 behavior\u2026 and when people see a two digit number like that, that definitely starts making them think twice about purchases,\u201d added David Kline, president of California Taxpayers Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county said it\u2019s going to generate $1 billion a year in new revenue, which means that is a $1 billion a year new cost for taxpayers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles County has voted to jack up the prices they pay for everyday items by approving a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":899922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,364478,276,364477,2961,153723,361802,224,6080,5337,364475,70165,364476,48688],"class_list":["post-899921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-ca-post","tag-california","tag-county-lines","tag-la","tag-la-county-board-of-supervisors","tag-local-health-departments","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-losangeles","tag-rafael-fontoura","tag-sales-tax","tag-sales-tax-increase","tag-tax-hike"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116831255008598187","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}