With thousands of employees out the door and years of crushing deficits still on the horizon, the Los Angeles City Council is preparing an urgent appeal to voters for more taxes to prevent further cuts in parks, police, fire and other services.

The council on Wednesday will take up four possible tax measures for the March ballot. The largest is a half-cent sales tax hike unveiled Tuesday by council President Herb Wesson that would generate an estimated $220 million a year and give Los Angeles one of the highest sales tax rates in the state.

Placing one or more tax increases on the March ballot would inject a new and unpredictable issue into an election in which voters will choose a new mayor, fill eight council seats and select a city attorney and controller.

The strategy reflects the increasingly desperate attempts by city officials to maintain basic services.

"We've cut just about everything that we can cut," Wesson said, pitching his sales tax proposal. "I can't say if we do this we'll never have a budget shortfall again … but this will help us for now if we're successful."

Other tax measures to be considered Wednesday include a property tax boost to pay for parks, higher levies on parking lots and increased taxes on real estate sales. Wesson said his tax plan would eliminate the need for the other tax proposals. And given the council president's record of getting controversial legislation through the body, his plan could prevail.

Wesson's measure would increase the sales tax from 8.75% to 9.25%, the second-highest sales tax rate in the state, in line with Santa Monica, Inglewood and other cities. Some other communities that border Los Angeles, including Burbank, Pasadena and Glendale, would have lower rates.

Wesson wants his colleagues to vote Wednesday to draft the sales tax measure. If that occurs, an analysis would be presented to council members Nov. 9 and a vote to place the measure on the ballot could occur later in the month, he said.

Next week, California voters are to decide a statewide, quarter-cent sales tax hike backed by Gov. Jerry Brown. A 30-year extension of an existing Los Angeles County sales tax to pay for public transit is also on the ballot. If the state and city sales tax increases are approved, Los Angeles' rate would reach 9.5%.

A push to increase sales taxes could pit business groups against city employee unions, which have argued that new sources of revenue are needed to avert severe service and job cuts.

"It's encouraging to see the City Council discussing revenue-raising measures that could help get the city back on track," said Ian Thompson, a spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents more than 10,000 city workers.

Council members have pledged to restore rescue units eliminated in recent years at the Fire Department if and when new revenue is available. Pat McOsker, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, told the council his organization would do whatever is needed to pass new tax measures.

But Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Assn., an L.A.-based organization that advocates for businesses, argued that a higher sales tax could reinforce L.A.'s image of being unfriendly to business. She criticized the abrupt announcement of Wesson's tax increase plan.

"You don't surprise a whole city with a sales tax proposal with less than 24 hours' notice," Schatz said. "Something like that needs a lot of discussion and evaluation."  More at the L.A. Times