Final answer:
75% of the city council members voted in favor of the tax, as calculated by dividing the number of favorable votes by the total council members and then multiplying by 100.
Step-by-step explanation:
The percentage of the council members who voted in favor of the tax can be calculated by dividing the number of council members who voted in favor by the total number of council members and then multiplying the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. Therefore, we calculate the percentage as follows:
(42 council members voted in favor ÷ 56 total council members) × 100 = 75%
75% of the council members voted in favor of the tax.