Opinion: Taxes are ahead, but not by enough*

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A majority of Los Angeles County voters are saying ‘I want my MTA,’ but it’s not yet clear whether that will be enough. Measure R, a 1/2-cent sales tax to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority program for rail and other transit expansion, is flirting with the necessary two-thirds, but it’s not quite there. With 16% of precincts reporting, Measure R has 64.94% of the vote - but it needs 66.6% to pass.

Same story in Pico Rivera, one of three L.A. County cities also seeking to raise sales taxes. Measure P, for now, is running at 63.63%. Not quite there. But in El Monte, with a quarter of the vote in, more than two-thirds of voters have said ‘yes’ to Measure GG and a half-cent sales tax.

In Maywood, though, forget it. With 14% of precincts in, only 42.44% are going for the 1% sales tax proposed in Proposition MC.

In Sacramento, the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will in coming weeks consider a new statewide 1% sales tax. But you probably won’t get to vote on that.

*Update: It’s enough! At least it’s enough in Pico Rivera and El Monte, where the taxes are for general city services and need only 50% to pass. MTA, as of 1 a.m., has 67% with 70% of precincts counted. But the Maywood tax is still going down. Keep checking here, and keeping hitting your ‘refresh’ button.