Amid the maze of propositions for the November ballot, there’s one you may have missed. It’s called Measure E, as in “emergency,” which increases the tax on residential and commercial properties to bolster fire and paramedic response in Los Angeles County.

Those who don’t see Measure E on their mail-in ballot, don’t panic. Measure E is only for voters who live in unincorporated county communities such as Hacienda Heights and Topanga, and in 60 towns that contract with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and are part of the consolidated district County Fire Protection Authority.

Residents who live in large cities such as Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale or Burbank, as well as some smaller towns, are not affected.

Measure E will impose a tax on properties of 6 cents per square foot of structural improvements, not including parking. The measure will generate approximately $152 million per year.

“This would be used to modernize equipment, for example by replacing old fire trucks. Some are 27 years old. As well as helping to address staffing shortages and modernize the 911 system,” said Douglas Herman, spokesperson for the Yes on Measure E campaign.

According to the campaign, here are some ways additional taxes could improve fire department performance and reduce response times:

• Replacement of old fire trucks, some almost three decades old. “It’s like relying on a decades-old, mechanically questionable family car in an emergency,” according to the campaign.

• Modernization of fire and paramedical equipment. For example, the ministry could deploy thermal cameras to locate fire victims. The money would also fund defibrillators, emergency supplies and protective equipment.

• Hire more paramedics. In about two-thirds of calls, firefighters respond understaffed, the campaign reported, despite the increase in the number of calls. Call volumes have increased 50% over the past 10 years, the campaign reported.

• Improved 911. With most calls coming from cell phones on a system designed for land calls, connections are strained. Often the location of the fire or emergency situation is not immediately clear; it takes longer to identify fires, casualties or road accidents, the campaign says.

“This money is not going into the general fund. It goes directly into the fire protection district,” Herman said.

This fuels opposition from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which wrote the argument for voting against the measure, as well as the rebuttal to the argument for it.

Although the district is funded by fire department property taxes, the department is overseen by the Board of Supervisors, which recently passed a $49 billion county budget.

“If the county doesn’t pay $150 million a year for firefighter lifesaving equipment, voters should ask themselves, ‘What’s a higher priority in the budget?’ »concluded the Howard Jarvis taxpayer group.

Another element of the taxpayer group’s opposition lies in the manner in which the measure was passed and the advantage it confers upon its adoption.

Members of IAFF Local 1014, the union that represents 3,400 Los Angeles County fire department employees, collected more than 180,000 signatures on a petition seeking to qualify the measure. The Board of Supervisors voted to place it on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Because it is called a “citizens’ petition,” the measure bypasses the two-thirds majority normally required to raise taxes. Measure E only needs a simple majority to pass.

The Howard Jarvis group wrote in an emailed response that this amounts to using “a court-created loophole to evade the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds vote to raise local taxes.” Courts have held that the Constitution does not apply to a tax increase proposed by a citizen initiative. We think this is wrong.

They also argue that the cost of housing is already too high in Los Angeles County and that increasing that cost with higher taxes would squeeze tight residential budgets and could lead to higher rents.

The group reminds voters that in 2020, a similar measure failed because it did not get two-thirds of the vote, which is not a requirement this time around.

The Yes on Measure E website says funding for the Los Angeles County Fire Department has not kept up with the cost of more frequent and more damaging fires, and the additional funding will help the department catch up.

“The risk of fire is increasing. Emergency calls exploded. Funding has not followed,” according to the Yes on Measure E website.