Life in LA just got more expensive — and the reason will shock you

Angelenos woke up Thursday morning to find everything cost even more. The county sales tax rose half a percent overnight, and is now a staggering 10.25%.

And some communities will pay even more, due to local taxes. Santa Monica shoppers will pay 11.25%. If you buy anything in Palmdale, your sales tax is 11.75%. That’s the highest in the nation.

It sounds incredible, but it’s true. 

And it’s all thanks to Measure ER, which barely passed in the June primary.

The Board of Supervisors placed the measure on the ballot — with one dissenting vote from Kathryn Barger. They said the new tax would only last five years, and would pay for healthcare. 

(Get it? “ER” = “emergency room,” which is where you might end up after seeing your grocery bill.)

California voters consistently told pollsters that the high cost of living was the No. 1 issue for them in this year’s elections. And yet voters in LA somehow decided to make everything more expensive.

The county sales tax in Los Angeles is now a whopping 10.25%. Getty Images

The half-percent increase is due to Measure ER, which barely passed in the June primary. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post

This was not a tax on the rich, on Bernie Sanders’ “millionaires and billionaires.” It was a tax on everyone, and it will hit working families hardest, since consumer spending is a higher percentage of their incomes.

The really odd part is that for days after the June 2 primary, Measure ER looked like it was going to fail. Voters in San Francisco and San Diego turned down tax increases in the same election. LA looked like it had done the same.

But then, as late ballots arrived and were counted, the tide began to shift. The same batches of ballots that put Nithya Raman into second place in the race for LA mayor also seemed to put the “yes” vote on Measure ER over the top.

In the end, Measure ER won by barely 1% of the vote. To be precise: It won by just 25,770 votes, in the largest county in America.

The sad part is that politicians constantly swindle voters in California, and especially in LA, into voting for tax increases by telling them the money will go to a good cause.

That’s what has happened every time a tax increase for homeless funding has been on the ballot. The money is wasted, and the politicians come back for more.

It’s time for us to stop this madness. Voters need to punish politicians who raise the cost of living.

And remember: Every vote counts. 

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