Los Angeles voters decide 10 local measures: fire department sales tax, Palisades mansion-tax relief, public-safety strike ban

Los Angeles voters heading to the polls on November 3 face more than the mayoral runoff: they are also deciding 10 local measures. According to MyNewsLA, city voters decide six City Charter amendments and two tax-related measures, while county voters consider two County Charter changes. The most far-reaching are the Fire Department tax and tax relief for the Palisades fire area. (Stock image: Los Angeles City Hall; the mayoral runoff is covered in a separate same-day report on this site.)

Fire tax: half a cent, about $345 million a year

Measure FD proposes a half-cent sales tax increase to provide about $345 million a year more for the Los Angeles Fire Department; if approved, the city's sales tax would rise from 10.25% to 10.75%. The proposal was spearheaded by the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 and is supported by Mayor Karen Bass and city council members. It follows the January 2025 fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed 12 people. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association puts the cost at an average of $86 per person a year, or $345 for a family of four.

Mansion-tax relief for the Palisades

Measure TE would give certain Pacific Palisades homeowners whose properties were damaged or destroyed in the 2025 wildfire a one-time exemption from the so-called mansion tax (Measure ULA), which levies a 4% transfer tax on sales above $5.4 million and 5.5% above $10.9 million.

Ethics reform and a strike ban

Measure EE would make ethics and governance reforms: raising the maximum fine for campaign finance violations to $15,000; barring ethics commissioners from running for city office or the Los Angeles Unified School District board for at least five years after leaving the commission; empowering the LAPD inspector general and the LAFD independent assessor to open investigations and audit their departments; and changing the City Council meeting requirement from at least three times a week to once a week. Measure A would ban labor strikes for public safety personnel, including certain fire department employees, sheriff's deputies, Department of Medical Examiner employees, district attorney investigators, lifeguards, supervisors and nonadministrative civilian staff, with binding arbitration for unresolved labor disputes.

The rest: port, airports and public works

Measure PRT aims to change governance of the city's proprietary departments, such as the Harbor Department, which oversees the Port of Los Angeles; Los Angeles World Airports, which oversees Los Angeles International Airport and Van Nuys Airport; and the Department of Water and Power. Charter Amendment LA would alter how public works are administered, allowing the city to lease underused land, opening the door to greater city involvement in business enterprises and easing some competitive bidding rules. The results will shape fire funding, disaster-area tax burdens and how City Hall operates for years to come.