The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday allowing the city to develop a process for increasing assessment fees for property owners to cover costs of streetlight maintenance.
On a 13-1 vote, the council advanced a request from the Bureau of Street Lighting, which wants to increase the streetlight maintenance assessment fee. The bureau estimated the fee hike would bring in $125 million to help restore lights across the city that have been impacted by copper wire theft or replace aging infrastructure.
Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez opposed the item, and Councilwoman Imelda Padilla was absent during the vote.
Bureau officials noted the assessment fee has not been increased since 1996. It would impact homeowners across the city with streetlights outside their property — encompassing some 584,000 parcels and 225,000 streetlights, according to a report from the bureau.
“Today, 1 in 10 streetlights in the city of L.A. will sit dark,” City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez said. “For 30 years, the Bureau of Street Lighting has been operating on a frozen budget while thieves strip our lights for parts.
“We cannot keep throwing money at temporary fixes, putting copper back into the ground, only to watch it get stolen again,” Hernandez added.
Rodriguez explained that she voted against the proposal because taxpayers will be impacted.
“At a time when we talk about the rent being too damn high, for affordability, I just want to remind everybody this also affects affordability in the city at a very difficult time when families and businesses are struggling,” Rodriguez said.
She also said she could not support raising the fee when the bureau has not updated its street maintenance plan since 2022.
“I believe taxpayers deserve better in respect for all the various tax measures that they’re going to be asked to consider in the next several months,” Rodriguez said.
Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents Pacific Palisades, requested that her community be exempted from the potential fee increase amid ongoing efforts to rebuild after the Palisades fire in January 2025. Top city officials are expected to report on a plan to do so.
The Bureau of Street Lighting is expected to mail notices of the assessment ballot proceedings to affected property owners, as required by Proposition 218.
Passed in 1996, Proposition 218 mandates voter approval for all local taxes, and provides voters an opportunity to repeal or reject taxes.
The ordinance establishes June 2 as the hearing date for the City Council to decide whether to approve the assessment fee increase.