Tax Levies Needed for More Police, Bradley Says

Los Angeles city revenues for the coming fiscal year will not provide enough money to hire more police officers next year without additional taxes, Mayor Tom Bradley said Tuesday.

Bradley used revenue estimates given him by city department heads during a morning meeting as ammunition against Councilman John Ferraro’s proposal to enlarge the Police Department primarily by cutting the budget.

“You can’t produce extra police officers without the people paying,” Bradley told reporters.

Ferraro, who is opposing Bradley’s bid for a fourth term, has called for adding 300 officers to the 7,004 in the department next year by cutting $7 million from other parts of the city budget and taking $2 million from the reserve fund. In following years, Ferraro advocated continued budget cuts and the use of the reserve fund to hire 250 officers each year until the force is increased in size by 1,300.

Backing Tax Increase

Bradley has joined City Council allies in backing a property tax increase, designed for the June ballot, to expand the department by 1,000 officers. Tom Quinn, Bradley’s campaign chairman, said Bradley and the council already have allocated city reserve funds to hire 100 officers who now are in recruit training.

All morning, department heads filed into Bradley’s conference room and presented him with estimates of how much money the city would take in from taxes, licenses and fees and from the federal and state governments.

Bradley listened impassively for the most part, interrupting occasionally. Once he suggested that officials find a way to limit the utility users’ tax. This measure imposes a 10% levy on the amount people pay for gas, telephone and electric service. Raised from 5% to 10% in 1983, the proposal is expected to bring in $288.7 million in the next fiscal year, 7% more than this year.

“The utility-user tax must have our immediate attention to moderate it, especially for the low income,” Bradley said.

Improved Trash Pickup

Another time, Bradley, who had visited the homeless shelter in Skid Row Monday, asked for improved garbage collections on 5th and Main streets, two Skid Row thoroughfares.

A city official replied that the city would have to have a special patrol in the area because sidewalks and streets that are clean in the morning are dirty late the same day.

“That’s what I’d like to have,” Bradley said. “Trash that is dumped in the street encourages the dumping of more trash.”

City officials told Bradley that an improved economy, with more sales and construction, will increase city revenues by 5% next year, up from the current $1.94 billion.

Pre-Prop. 13 Level

Property tax receipts will total $341.5 million, officials estimated. That would make the 1985-86 fiscal year the first in which property taxes exceeded the $313.6 million received in 1977-78, the last year before Proposition 13 imposed a property tax limit.

Increased assessed valuation, along with resale of houses after passage of Proposition 13, account for the increased revenues, officials said. Under the terms of the measure, homes purchased after its passage have higher property tax assessments than those purchased before.