LA property owners vote down streetlight fee increase<\/p>\n
Los Angeles city property owners voted down a fee increase that sought to address a massive backlog of streetlight repairs. The L.A. city clerk certified the results Wednesday: Just under 80% of the weighted votes cast rejected the idea. Kavish Harjai reports.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles city property owners voted down a fee increase that sought to address a massive backlog of streetlight repairs.<\/p>\n
The L.A. city clerk certified the results Wednesday<\/a>: Just under 80% of the weighted votes cast rejected the idea.<\/p>\n The city sent ballots to owners of more than 580,000 public, commercial and private parcels in April.<\/a> They were asked if they would pay more in a yearly assessment to boost the city\u2019s streetlight budget, which has essentially been frozen since the 1990s.<\/a><\/p>\n Currently, it takes about one year to repair streetlights<\/a> from the time an issue is reported.<\/p>\n Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n In a joint statement, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and other leaders said they remain committed to improving the city\u2019s streetlighting network.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery Angeleno deserves to feel safe walking their dogs, returning home from work and parking their cars at night, and the city is committed to delivering the reliable street lighting that makes that a reality,\u201d the statement said. It was signed by Bass, L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Katy Yaroslavsky.<\/p>\n The background<\/p>\n Most of the city\u2019s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property near streetlights pay on their county property tax bill.<\/p>\n More details on the vote<\/p>\n Around 167,000 properties, or just under 30% of the total number of properties involved in the vote, returned a ballot to the city.<\/p>\n Each property received one vote. The weight of each property\u2019s vote depended on how much the owner would be asked to pay in an increased assessment.<\/p>\n The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights.<\/p>\n According to a report from the city, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the needs of the city\u2019s streetlights in the upcoming fiscal year is nearly $112 million. That’s well over double the amount the city will collect during that time period now that property owners rejected the fee increase.<\/p>\n Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights. This year\u2019s vote was the first attempt to increase the fees.<\/p>\n What happens now?<\/p>\n Nothing changes, really.<\/p>\n According to the Bureau of Street Lighting\u2019s website<\/a>, the city \u201cwill operate within its parameters, including funding \u2026 in other words, status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n Had property owners voted in favor of the higher assessment, the extra funds would have been used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and to procure solar streetlights, according to Miguel Sangalang,<\/a> the head of the Bureau of Street Lighting.<\/p>\n