City leaders propose sales tax hike to pay for Los Angeles street repairs

Sparking a debate over how to fix Los Angeles' crumbling roads and buckling sidewalks, the city's top analyst on Tuesday recommended a tax hike to pay for thousands of miles of repairs.

City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana issued a report recommending that city leaders place a half-percent sales tax on the November ballot. If approved by voters, the tax would raise about $4.5 billion to help fix the city's failing streets and sidewalks, officials said.

Nearly a third of the city's network of more than 28,000 miles of roadway needs major repairs, officials say, and federal and state funds that once paid for the repairs have dwindled.

Funds raised by the tax would reverse years of neglect, and potholes from San Pedro to cracked thoroughfares in Sylmar would see improvements. "There are enough bad streets to go around that every council district would benefit," Santana said.

The tax would raise an estimated $3.86 billion to fix the streets and roughly $640 million...