Los Angeles Voters Decide 10 Measures on Tuesday, From a Fire Department Tax to Ethics Reform

Los Angeles voters will be asked Tuesday to consider 10 measures on the Nov. 3 ballot, including a proposed half-cent sales tax increase for the city fire department and an effort to enshrine ethics reforms for the county. City voters will decide six City Charter amendments and two tax-related measures, while county voters will consider two County Charter changes.

The biggest city question is Measure FD, a half-cent sales tax increase that would provide an additional $345 million a year for the Los Angeles Fire Department, raising the city's sales tax from 10.25% to 10.75% to build fire stations, increase hiring and upgrade equipment. The proposal followed the January 2025 fires that destroyed thousands of homes in Pacific Palisades and killed 12 people, and it is supported by the firefighters' union, other firefighter associations, Mayor Karen Bass and City Council members. It is opposed by the Los Angeles Police Protective League and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which say the city should fully fund the department rather than ask voters to pay more. Measure TE would give Pacific Palisades property owners a one-time, five-year exemption from the Measure ULA transfer tax on sales above $5.4 million.

The charter amendments include Measure EE, an ethics and governance package that would raise the maximum campaign-finance fine to $15,000 and bar ethics commissioners from running for city office or the school board for five years; Measure LA, creating a capital infrastructure plan and a two-year budget cycle; Measure PL, streamlining planning and land-use appeals; Measure PRK, increasing parks funding over 10 years; Measure PRT, changing rules for the city's proprietary departments, including the Harbor, Airports and Water and Power departments; and Measure SC, clarifying that city campaign rules apply to Los Angeles Unified school board elections. County voters will decide Measure A, which would ban strikes by public-safety personnel and mandate binding arbitration, and Measure E, which would codify an independent ethics commission and reinstate the community-investment funding requirements of the 2020 Measure J.