Sales tax hike proposed 'to help save the LAFD'

Even before the Palisades fire had been extinguished, the city's Fire Department budget had become a topic of great scrutiny.

- NOAH GOLDBERG

Some accused Mayor Karen Bass of reducing Fire Department operations amid a budget crunch. But the budget actually increased after firefighters received raises and the city made additional investments in new firetrucks and department purother chases, Bass and her team said.

Now, nearly a year after the firestorm decimated the coastal community, L.A.'s firefighter union has proposed a ballot measure that would leave no question about the growth of the department's budget: a dedicated half-cent sales tax that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the Fire Department each year.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 plans to submit language for the ballot measure in the coming days.

"This is the most important thing for the LAFD, really, ever," said Doug Coates, the acting president of the union. "We need the support of the citizens to push this through because this is what's going to help save the LAFD." By 2050 the sales tax would raise at least $9.8 billion, the union said, allowing the department to build at least 30 new fire stations, buy new firetrucks and increase the size of the department by about 1,400 people, according to Coates and Councilmember Traci Park, who represents Pacific Palisades.

Park, appearing before the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. on Wednesday, said the city does not have the money to build new fire stations, repair existing ones and expand department operations.