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10.25% LA sales tax to appear on Nov. ballot
The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 to place a half-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot to secure additional funding for the Los Angeles Fire Department. If approved by voters, the tax hike would push LA's current sales tax from 9.75% to 10.25%.
LOS ANGELES - Another tax hike could be on the horizon in the City of Los Angeles. Voters will be asked to approve an increase to the sales tax to help fund the fire department.
What we know:
The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 to put the measure on the November ballot. Traci Park was absent during the vote.
The city's current sales tax is 9.75%. If passed, the half-cent increase would put it at 10.25%.
What they're saying:
"This ballot measure will save lives. Period," said Doug Coates, the President of United Firefighters of LA City Local 112, the union representing LAFD firefighters. "The LAFD is nearly half the size it should be to protect our nearly 4 million people. In 1965, we had 3,379 firefighters. Today, we have 3,387."
If passed, the measure would generate $345 million in its first year. It would allow the fire department to hire 4,000 additional firefighters and paramedics, build 62 new fire stations, and purchase more engines and ambulances.
"We need twice as many paramedics and firefighters and hundreds of additional trucks, engines and ambulances," said Richard Ramirez, vice president of UFLAC Local 112.
Firefighters said the fire department is desperate for more funding, noting that their response rate to emergencies is nearly double the national recommendation of four minutes.
The other side:
Critics, like the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, say the tax rate is already too high and hits low-income residents the hardest.
The Source: This report is based on official voting logs from the Los Angeles City Council, combined with public data regarding local sales tax thresholds, and on-the-record statements from United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC) Local 112 union representatives alongside taxpayer advocacy groups like the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.