A new study funded by the East Los Angeles Residents Association argues cityhood for East Los Angeles is financially feasible.

The 62-page Initial Fiscal Analysis, by Burr Consulting of Los Angeles, said that a City of East Los Angeles would generate about $51 million in revenues and possibly more in the future.

That would be enough to cover the services the city would contract from the county, including police, fire, library, water and schools, and support its own municipal government, according to the study.

The area includes a great deal of tax-exempt land and a small tax base. However, the report argues that it’s central location, freeway frontage, and underutilized commercial space, there is potential for East Los Angeles to develop commercial uses that would enhance the future tax base and finance increased service levels.

East Los Angeles Residents Association is pushing to hold a referendum next year on whether to incorporate as a city. The community is currently an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, but is not part of the City of Los Angeles.

Some 95 percent of East L.A.’s 126,000 residents are Latino. The community has a 27 percent poverty rate.

- Christina Hoag