L.A. Voters Decide Tuesday on a Fire Department Sales Tax and Fewer Council Meetings
Eight city measures, each needing a simple majority, would raise the sales tax to 10.75% for firefighters, double the parks budget floor and let the City Council meet once a week, as all 646 county vote centers open today.
Every vote center in Los Angeles County opens its doors this morning, and voters in the city of Los Angeles who head to one will face eight city measures, to be decided Tuesday, Nov. 3, from a half-cent sales tax for the Fire Department to a charter change that would let the City Council meet once a week instead of three times. Each needs only a simple majority to pass, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Measure FD: A Sales Tax for Firefighters
The biggest money question is Measure FD, which would raise the city's sales tax from 10.25% to 10.75%. The city administrative officer estimates it would bring in about $345 million a year for a special fund that can be spent only on the Los Angeles Fire Department, LAist reported. The city's official voter information pamphlet says the money would go toward firefighter, paramedic and civilian staffing, fire trucks, ambulances and helicopters, brush clearance and wildfire preparedness, and fire stations, with annual audits and a citizens' oversight committee.
The measure was put on the ballot by petition, led by United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, the union that represents rank-and-file firefighters and has long argued the department is underfunded. The tax could not replace existing money: in any year the city funds the department below its historical share of the general fund, it could not collect the tax. If voters approve FD, the tax could take effect as early as April 1, 2027, and would last until voters repeal it, according to LAist.
Opponents say it would be the third sales tax increase since 2024, after the county's Measure A for homelessness and Measure ER for health care. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association estimates FD would cost an average of $86 per person and $345 for a family of four each year, according to the Times' last-minute guide.
EE: One Council Meeting a Week
Charter Amendment EE would cut the City Council's required meetings from three a week to one. The council voted 12-0 to place it on the ballot. Supporters say three meetings are costly and ineffective. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez opposed it, saying it would reduce the time residents have to address their representatives in a public forum and could lead the council to rush through important decisions, the Times reported.
EE also gives the police and fire departments' independent inspectors more audit power, raises campaign finance penalties, requires more signatures for a referendum and bars former ethics commissioners from running for City Council or school board for five years.
Palisades, Parks and Planning
Proposition TE would exempt Pacific Palisades properties damaged or destroyed in the 2025 fire from the city's "mansion tax," Measure ULA, if they are sold within five years. ULA adds a 4% transfer tax on sales above $5.4 million and 5.5% above $10.9 million. The Times calculated that a fire victim selling a vacant lot for $6 million would now owe $240,000. Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Palisades, spearheaded it; supporters say fire victims have been through enough. Opponents say the exemption is too broad because it also covers landlords and investors, not just people whose homes burned.
Charter Amendment PRK would double the minimum budget set aside for the Department of Recreation and Parks. The current formula yields about $303 million this year; under PRK the floor would reach at least $986 million by 2036. It is not a new tax, but critics warn it would force cuts to other city services.
Charter Amendment PL would replace seven Area Planning Commissions with a single Neighborhood Appeals Board, set deadlines on planning votes and give the council more room to approve taller buildings. Amendment LA would reduce the sway of the Board of Public Works, or open the door to eliminating it, while strengthening the public works director, and would let the city lease underused land.
Charter Amendment PRT would require two of the seven airport commissioners to live in Van Nuys and three near LAX, and would require the harbor commission to put part of the Port of Los Angeles' operating income into waterfront public access projects. The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce opposes it. Amendment SC would tidy campaign finance language for L.A. Unified school board races.
How to Vote
All 646 vote centers in the county are open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Monday and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, according to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Voters can use any vote center, and eligible residents who missed the registration deadline can still vote at one. Mail ballots can go in any of 429 drop boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday, or in the mail if postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days. Locations are at locator.lavote.gov.
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