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Los Angeles fire officials were grilled Friday over plans to spend $345 million a year from a proposed sales tax hike, as the department revealed more than half its stations are past their expected lifespan and crews can’t reach most city streets within the recommended four minutes.
With just 11 days before voters decide the fate of Measure FD, Councilwoman Traci Park and fellow councilmembers pressed Fire Chief Jaime Moore over how the department would spend the cash, fix fire stations and get more firefighters on the streets without wasting taxpayer dollars.
“If we are asking Angelenos to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the fire department, City Hall owes them a concrete plan for how every dollar is going to make LA safer,” Park said.
Park noted that the LAFD is operating with a budget approaching $1 billion, with its proposed 2026-27 spending plan totaling $939.5 million. The proposed half-cent sales tax hike would pump another $345 million annually into the department, potentially pushing its funding to nearly $1.3 billion.
But the department’s laundry list of problems is staggering.
Moore testified that 56 of LA’s 106 fire stations are between 50 and 85 years old, while six of the 22 maintenance hoists used to repair fire trucks at its Lincoln Heights facility are broken.
And buying new fire engines won’t deliver an overnight fix.
“It takes about three years for us to get a new fire engine,” Moore told the council.
The department’s own analysis found its fire engines and ambulances can reach just 49.2% of city roads within four minutes, the recommended response-time benchmark.
LAFD has roughly the same number of firefighters as it did in the 1960s, despite emergency call volumes multiplying and the city’s population surging by 1.4 million people, according to firefighters who testified Friday.
Moore outlined plans to expand the next two firefighter recruit classes from a combined 120 to 180 recruits, but acknowledged the department doesn’t have enough civilian workers to process applicants or sufficient training infrastructure to rapidly expand hiring.
“We’re gonna have to hire more civilian staff,” Moore told council members, explaining that years of budget cuts had depleted the department’s support workforce.
Park zeroed in on whether City Hall could be trusted to keep the new tax money from disappearing into other spending priorities.
“Chief, are there mechanisms in place to prevent the Measure FD funds from being absorbed into the city’s general fund or being diverted for purposes other than fire department expansion?” she asked.
Moore said the measure includes protections preventing the revenue from being diverted to other city programs.
The United Firefighters of Los Angeles City union has already poured $4.5 million of its members’ money into campaigning for Measure FD, according to union secretary Ryan Quigley.
The proposal would raise LA’s sales tax from 10.25% to 10.75%, with no expiration date.
Park’s motion demands a detailed spending plan outlining which fire stations and equipment would be prioritized, how quickly additional firefighters could be hired and what improvements taxpayers could expect within 30, 60, 90 and 180 days.