'Beautification Assessment Districts' Proposed to Fix Los Angeles Streets

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Laura Nelson discusses Councilman Joe Buscaino's new "beautification assessment districts" proposal, to allow residents to tax themselves for city infrastructure repairs. Nearly 40 percent of Los Angeles' streets are given the lowest grade of street condition, D or F. This figure represents about 8,200 lane miles within the city that are in dire need of maintenance, at an estimated $1.5 billion.

The beautification assessment district proposal was one of eight introduced to the City Council on Wednesday, aiming to improve the crumbling state of Los Angeles' infrastructure. To enact this proposal, "districts would have to be approved through a neighborhood election. Fees for tree-trimming, road paving and sidewalk repair could be added to property owners' annual tax bill. Property owners who already pay for street light installation and maintenance might be able to vote to simply broaden the tax to cover those costs."

The beautification assessment district proposal follows on the heels of an abandoned sales tax measure retracted from the November ballot, which would have raised about $4.5 billion to repair Los Angeles' worst roads and sidewalks.