A ballot measure to bump up Los Angeles’ sales tax a half-cent to 9.5 percent appeared to be failing early Wednesday.
About 55 percent of voters chose not to increase the sales tax, while nearly 44 percent voted in favor of the hike, according to the Los Angeles City Clerk as of 5:30 a.m. Wednesday with 100 percent of precincts reporting.
Decision 2013: Full Coverage | Live Results
If approved, Proposition A would have hiked the city’s sales tax for the second time this year. It was raised in January after voters last fall approved Proposition 30, which raised the tax to 9 percent.
The tax hike would bring an additional $215 million per year to the city, which is expected to start fiscal year 2013-14 with a $216 million budget deficit.
