LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles voters approved Measure FD on Nov. 3, a half-cent sales tax that will fund the Los Angeles Fire Department, according to the department and Los Angeles County election results.
The county’s election results as of 5:01 p.m. Nov. 10 showed 575,807 Yes votes, or 53.75%, and 495,486 No votes, or 46.25%, on the measure. It appears on the ballot as Initiative Ordinance FD, titled Funding for the Los Angeles Fire Department Through a One-Half Percent Sales Tax. Ballots were still being counted, and the results remain unofficial.
The measure raises the city’s sales tax rate from 10.25% to 10.75%. The state’s sales and use tax rate table, effective Oct. 1, 2026, lists the City of Los Angeles at 10.25%, the rate in place before the measure takes effect.
Supporters say the tax will raise about $345 million a year for the department. The firefighters’ union led the initiative, and the City Council voted unanimously to place it on the ballot.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said in a news release published Nov. 10 that the vote is “a significant investment in the future of the Los Angeles Fire Department.”
Sales tax rises from 10.25% to 10.75%
At the new rate, a $1,000 purchase would carry $5 more in sales tax. Purchases that are subject to the tax, such as fuel, restaurant meals and clothing, will cost more once it takes effect.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which opposed the measure, estimated the cost at roughly $86 per person on average.
The tax takes effect on the first day of the first calendar quarter that begins more than 110 days after adoption. That makes April 1, 2027, the earliest possible start date.
Ordinance provides for audits and oversight
The City Clerk’s ballot document describes Measure FD as an initiative ordinance imposing a half percent sales tax in the City of Los Angeles for the Fire Department. It provides for annual audits and a citizens’ oversight committee.
The document indicates the tax is expected to generate about $345 million annually until it is ended by voters.
Backers say the revenue will go toward Fire Department staffing, equipment, vehicles, facilities and brush clearance.
The LAFD said it is committed to “responsible stewardship and frequent, public updates” on its progress in carrying out the measure.
Firefighters’ union gathered more than 225,000 signatures
The measure was brought to the ballot by United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, which gathered more than 225,000 petition signatures, the LAFD said.
Doug Coates, the union’s president, said the union pushed for the sales tax as a last resort after years of pleas to the City Council for more money. He said it came even though this is the third sales tax increase affecting Los Angeles since 2024. The other two applied countywide.
Coates said, “When they call, we show up. Now it appears that, really, they’ve answered our call for help.”
City Council voted 14-0 to place the measure on the ballot
The City Council voted 14-0 on June 23 to put the initiative on the November ballot. The Council’s ballot resolution for the Fire Department sales tax initiative is filed under Council File 26-1100-S8.
Supporters included Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Traci Park and LAFD Chief Jaime Moore. A spokesperson for Bass said the mayor is grateful to the union for bringing the proposal forward and has championed the measure from the very beginning.
Park’s district includes the Pacific Palisades, which was devastated by fire in January 2025. She said firefighters had warned the department was in crisis long before the Palisades and Eaton fires brought more attention to the issue.
Park said the Palisades fire laid bare how urgent it was to make this investment. She added that the problem was not going to be solved inside the four walls of the city budget.
Union cites response times and staffing
Coates said the revenue is vital for the department to hire more personnel, open more stations and lower its response times.
Firefighters say LAFD response times average nearly eight minutes, about double the four-minute national recommendation.
The union says the department has about the same number of firefighters as in the 1960s, six fewer stations and about five times the call load. It says the LAFD needs about 4,000 more firefighters and paramedics, along with dozens of new stations.
City officials say some fire stations have leaky roofs and broken heating and air-conditioning systems. Park said broken fire engines, known as rigs, have sat unused because there was no money to fix them.
FireStatLA publishes response times by station
The LAFD defines operational response time as the interval that begins when first contact is made, through 911 or the fire dispatch center, and ends when the first standard unit arrives on scene. That definition appears in the department’s explanation of how it calculates results. The page explains how the FireStatLA metrics are calculated but does not itself give a citywide average.
The department’s FireStatLA page for Station 1 shows figures for January through December 2025. Overall EMS operational response time at that station was 8 minutes 11 seconds, and non-EMS response time was 8 minutes 8 seconds.
The page lists a response time of 6 minutes 57 seconds for critical advanced life support calls and 5 minutes 59 seconds for structure fires. Station 1 handled 3,251 EMS incidents and 1,156 non-EMS incidents in that period.
Those figures cover one station and do not represent the department as a whole.
Police union and taxpayer group opposed Measure FD
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing Los Angeles police officers, opposed the measure.
The league objected to the tax being permanent and to the revenue being limited to one department. It also voiced concern that the added funding would be used to increase firefighter pensions.
Sgt. Chris Wecker, the league’s vice president, said voters were misled into believing the tax would focus on rebuilding the Fire Department’s infrastructure. He said the league would support exploring a repeal measure on a future ballot, giving voters time to be educated about what he called a pension-spiking scheme.
Pension motion remains in committee
The police union pointed to a May motion by Councilmembers Heather Hutt and Park. The motion, introduced May 1 under Council File 26-0655, concerns a supplemental retirement credit program for firefighters represented by IAFF Local 112.
The motion was re-referred on May 5 to the Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, where it remains pending. It is filed separately from the ballot measure.
The police league has described the motion as seeking to explore extra pension credit for firefighters’ mandatory overtime.
Measure FD results remain unofficial
As of Nov. 12, the Measure FD results were unofficial, and no certification of the vote had been announced.
The sales tax cannot take effect before April 1, 2027. The LAFD has said it will provide frequent, public updates on its progress once the funding is in place.
