L.A. sales taxes will go up. Will firefighting response times go down?
Los Angeles is going to get more expensive next year thanks to a half-cent sales tax hike approved by voters last week, but city officials say the benefit will be a stronger fire department and faster response times.
Measure FD will generate about $345 million annually for the city Fire Department by raising the city’s retail sales tax from 10.25% to 10.75%, which is about 5 cents more for every $10 spent.
That means filling up the gas tank, eating out and shopping for clothes will all get more expensive — to the tune of roughly $86 per person on average, according to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which opposed the measure.
The ordinance requires a 110-day waiting period after the votes are certified on Nov. 27, and won’t kick in until the first day of the next calendar quarter, so the earliest people could see the increase would be April 1.
The sales tax hike was spearheaded by the city’s firefighters union and Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes the Pacific Palisades community devastated by fire in January 2025.
The measure passed by roughly a 54% to 46% margin, according to the latest tally, although some mail-in ballots are still being counted.
L.A. firefighters had warned their department was in crisis long before the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire in Altadena cast a brighter light on the issue, Park said.
“These matters were urgent before, but the Palisades fire laid bare how urgent it was that this investment be made,” Park said. “The reality that it was not going to be solved inside the four walls of the city budget or by politicians inside City Hall.”
The sales tax is an unprecedented move by the city, and vital for the department to hire more personnel, open more stations and lower the department’s response times, said Doug Coates, the fire union president.
The Fire Department says its response time averages just under eight minutes — nearly double the national standards set by the National Fire Protection Assn., an international nonprofit that creates and maintains fire safety standards.
The number of firefighters in the department has stayed largely stagnant since the 1960s, according to the fire department, even as the city’s population grew. City officials say some fire stations have leaky roofs and broken HVAC systems. Broken rigs have sat unused because there was no money to fix them, Park said.
Coates said the union pushed for the sales tax as a last resort, following years of pleas to the City Council for more money, even though it would be the third sales tax hike affecting Los Angeles since 2024 (the other two sales tax hikes were countywide).
“When they call, we show up,” Coates said. “Now it appears that, really, they’ve answered our call for help.”
The Police Protective League, the union representing L.A. police officers, opposed Measure FD, objecting to the permanency of the tax and that the revenue is limited to one department. The PPL expressed concern that the extra funding would be used to spike firefighter pensions. Voters were misled into believing the tax would focus on revamping the fire department’s infrastructure, said Sgt. Chris Wecker, the union’s vice president.
The union pointed to a motion written by Councilmember Heather Hutt and Councilmember Park in May, which sought to explore giving firefighters extra pension credit for mandatory overtime.
“We would support the exploration of a tax repeal measure on a future ballot that would allow enough time for voters to be educated about this bait-and-switch pension spiking scheme and give them an opportunity to cut their taxes,” Wecker said.
Coates said that motion had nothing to do with Measure FD and asked only for a study into what additional costs the city would undertake if extra shifts firefighters are forced to take on were pensionable.
“The attacks on this motion and Measure FD were misguided and just flat out incorrect,” Coates said. “It will not spike pension benefits in any way, shape or form.”
The sales tax revenue from Measure FD will be in addition to the money the department already receives from the city’s general fund, which Coates said was a crucial factor in winning voter support. The sales tax will continue unless it’s repealed by voters, according to the ordinance.
The fire union hopes city residents will notice a change in the department within a year, Coates said.
L.A. Fire Chief Jaime Moore said the department will prioritize recruiting and hiring more firefighters, repairing existing equipment — a task that could exceed $9 million — and undergoing critical station repairs. The new pool of money will also be used to expand dispatch centers and eventually build more fire stations, Moore said in a presentation to the City Council last month.
Another critical issue the department hopes to address is hiring more personnel to reduce delays in hiring and training new firefighters, Moore said.
The department will also begin a process to identify where new stations are needed. With the 106 active stations, firefighters can reach just under half the city within four minutes. The department will utilize operational data to determine where new stations fit best.
The funds must be used for eligible core fire department services. The department will separately track Measure FD revenue, create dashboards to monitor all expenditures and provide quarterly reports to the City Council to ensure transparency, Moore said.
The measure also requires a citizen oversight committee that will review the department’s spending of this money.
“This is the biggest deal in the Los Angeles Fire Department. We couldn’t be more grateful to the citizens of L.A. for helping us pass this,” Coates said. “The men and women in the field are ecstatic that change is coming, and we’re going to be able to better respond to the residents of L.A.”
Measure FD was one of eight measures on the Nov. 3 Los Angeles city ballot, all of which were approved by voters. Other measures will allow the City Council to meet once a week and allow it to disband the Board of Public Works, and allocate more money to the Department of Recreation and Parks.
Voters also approved a measure that exempts Palisades fire victims from paying the so-called mansion tax if they sell their properties within five years of the disaster.