Some see Measure S possible loss as win

With $270 million a year at stake in Tuesday's vote on a Los Angeles telephone users tax, some are saying a loss at the polls could be just what the city needs Daily News.

That's because Los Angeles has been living beyond its means since at least 2001, balancing its budget each year with money transfers or unexpected revenue from what had been a white-hot real estate market.

Attempts to limit spending, find inefficiencies and cut waste have failed to close a multimillion-dollar structural deficit - the gap between how much the city earns and spends.