Firefighters for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), along with elected officials are asking voters to support a half-cent sales tax as the firefighters union Thursday began collecting signatures to add the proposal to the November ballot. 

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC) held a news conference in front of Fire Station 58 Thursday morning, urging registered voters in the city of LA to sign the petition to qualify the ballot measure.

The union would need at least 154,000 valid signatures before LA voters have an opportunity to approve or deny the proposal.

Firefighters as well as Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes the Palisade Fire zones, said the LAFD desperately needs more funding to hire more firefighters, get better equipment and improve infrastructure. 

Supporters of the proposal said revenue from the half-cent sales tax would generate at least $345 million in the first year.

In the city of Los Angeles with more than 3.8 million people, the LAFD has the same number of firefighters as it did in the 1960s despite the surging number of calls now, the union said. 

“We have five times the call load, six fewer fire stations than in the 1960s,” Doug Coate, LAFD firefighter and engineer said. “My basic last thing is we need more firefighters, we need more fire stations, we need more tools and equipment, and we need engines, trucks, and ambulances. That’s the only way to help our LAFD and help the citizens of LA.

One year after Palisades Fire ravaged the Westside neighborhoods, the fire department has 42 fewer firefighters than it did in 2025 when the wildfire broke out. 

“I, for one, cannot let what happened to my Pacific Palisades constituents happen to any other community,” said Park, urging LA voters to support the measure. “Sign the petition, get your family, your friends, and your neighbors to sign it. And then when we get it on the ballot in November, show up and vote for it.”

If the proposal is approved, the sales tax in the city of LA will go from 9.75% to 10.25%. The idea of a higher sales tax may be a tough sell for LA residents amid inflation and rising prices, but proponents argue insufficient funding for the LAFD is directly related to public safety.

“When you call 911, we should be coming to you in four and a half minutes. We’re taking almost eight minutes to get to you because we do not have enough resources,” Rich Ramirez, an official with UFLAC said. “It’s not sustainable. It’s not safe for the public, not for the firefighters and the citizens from Los Angeles.”

A tax for firefighters is not a new concept as LA County voters in 1997 approved a special parcel tax to help turn the LA County Fire Department. Voters also in 2024 green lit to increase the parcel tax, raising over 150 million a year just for fire and emergency services. 

The proposal would also require annual audits that would be presented to the public, and would establish a citizens oversight committee to track all spending from the tax.

Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement, saying she supports the ballot initiative to “to hire more firefighters, replace aging vehicles and outage equipment.”

“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,” Bass said. 

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association criticized the proposed tax initiative, noting that voters placed taxpayer protections in the state constitution with Proposition 13 in 1978 and Proposition 218 in 1996. These require local taxes for a special purpose to be approved by two-thirds of voters. 

Beginning in 2017, state courts carved a loophole that said the constitution does not apply to “citizen initiative tax increases,” according to the association. 

“Voters should ask, `What is in the city budget that is a higher priority than adequately funding the fire department?’ It is totally unacceptable that the City Council and mayor have underfunded the fire department and essentially told the firefighters’ union to go out and get their own tax increase,” the association said in a statement. “Sales taxes are already very high in Los Angeles, and they hit hardest on people who can least afford to pay more.”

City News Service contributed to this report.