LA homeowners crush streetlight tax in landslide vote

Los Angeles property owners overwhelmingly rejected a plan that would have raised roughly $125 million a year to repair and maintain the city’s crumbling streetlight system, dealing a major blow to officials who warned the network is falling into disrepair.

The proposed Street Lighting Maintenance Assessment District failed after 79.29% of weighted ballots opposed the measure, compared with 18.74% in favor. 

Under California’s Proposition 218, the assessment cannot take effect because a weighted majority of returned ballots voted against it.

“The proposed assessment district has failed,” city officials announced Friday following the public ballot tabulation. “As a result, the City may not impose an assessment for the improved maintenance of lighting in the proposed district.”

The measure would have increased annual assessments based on property size, land use and lighting type, costing the average single-family homeowner about $144 a year. 

Multifamily and commercial properties would have paid more.

City officials said the additional funding was desperately needed as the Bureau of Street Lighting struggles to maintain more than 220,000 streetlights across Los Angeles. 

Repair times now average more than a year, while widespread copper wire theft has left thousands of lights dark.

Unlike a traditional election, Proposition 218 requires property owners to vote by mail, with each ballot weighted according to the dollar amount of the proposed assessment on that property. Only ballots that are returned are counted.

Although the new assessment failed, the city will continue collecting the original 1996 street lighting assessment, which remains in effect for basic maintenance.

 Most residential properties currently pay about $53 a year under that assessment, while newer lighting districts typically pay about $95 annually.

The Bureau of Street Lighting maintains that properties bordering illuminated streets receive a direct benefit from streetlights and therefore should help pay for their installation, operation and maintenance through special assessments added to Los Angeles County property tax bills.

But those who voted no said streetlights are a basic government service that should be paid for by the city as a whole, not individual property owners.

In comments submitted to the City Council before Friday’s vote, Los Angeles property owner Timothy Campbell urged officials to crack down on copper thieves instead of asking taxpayers to pay more.

“Streetlights are a core government responsibility and benefit the entire public, not just adjacent property owners,” Campbell wrote.

Campbell, who described himself as a “Mom-and-Pop housing provider,” said he could not absorb another assessment as operating costs continue to climb.

He said higher fees could force small property owners to sell to large corporate developers, worsening housing affordability and ultimately driving up rents.

He also called on the city to explore alternatives such as solar-powered streetlights and private maintenance contracts before imposing what he described as a permanent new financial burden on property owners.

The vote comes after The California Post reported that Los Angeles is already spending more than $20 million a year repairing damage caused by copper wire thieves.

City leaders have responded by shifting more than $1 million into overtime and repair work, even as a private company has pitched a much cheaper solution: hardened locking covers that bolt over streetlight access panels for about $300 per pole, making them far more difficult for thieves to break into.  

The defeat leaves Los Angeles without the additional funding city officials sought to modernize and speed repairs to its aging streetlight system, even as vandalism, copper theft and deteriorating infrastructure continue to strain the network.