LAFD calls for a sales tax increase to fund department needs, they say to keep LA safe
Following what has been called "decades of under-investment," the union for Los Angeles firefighters is calling for a half-cent sales tax increase to fund the Los Angeles Fire Department's needs.
Members of United Firefighters of Los Angeles and city leaders kicked off a signature-gathering campaign on Thursday to get the sales tax initiative on the November ballot. It requires a minimum of 154,000 valid signatures.
They say it will allow LAFD to hire more firefighters, build and repair fire stations, get more engines, trucks, and ambulances, as well as more tools and equipment.
LAFD Firefighter/Engineer Doug Coates, acting president of UFLAC, said that they have half the fire department needed to keep LA safe.
"We have the same number of firefighters today as we did in the 1960s," Coates said. "We have five times the call load and six fewer stations than we did."
Department deficiencies came to light during the massive 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Records released last year showed that more than 100 LAFD trucks, engines, and ambulances had been out of service and in need of repair.
As of Jan. 6, 2026, records showed that 96 LAFD fire engines, trucks and ambulances needed service. The department's chief said some of the engines and trucks are so old that original parts are impossible to find.
"On January 7 of last year, when a raging wildfire leveled the Pacific Palisades in council district 11, thousands witnessed in painful detail why this matters so much," Los Angeles Councilmember Traci Park said. "Ignoring those lessons would be reckless."
Rich Ramirez, firefighter/paramedic, 2nd Vice President UFLAC, said that because of a firefighter shortage, response times are almost twice as long as national safety standards recommend.
"Today, Los Angeles has fewer than one firefighter per 1,000 residents. Cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and New York have staff at nearly double that level," Ramirez said.
"We should be responding to you guys in 4 ½ minutes. We are almost double that time at 8 minutes."
The sales tax in the city of Los Angeles is currently 9.75 %, and if the measure were approved by voters, the sales tax would jump to 10.25 % -- the same rate in neighboring cities like Inglewood and Manhattan Beach.
"The City has faced extremely difficult budget cycles. New revenue sources are needed, and this ballot initiative will help ensure that we can build out the Los Angeles Fire Department to fully serve all Angelenos now and into the future," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.
