Los Angeles CA
2-16-2024 9:42am

L.A. Streetlighting - The Basics

The Bureau is planning for a citywide ballot to update over 550,000 frozen parcels to current costs in order to properly maintain the City’s system of 223,000 streetlights. Status is pending.

Statistics of Los Angeles Streetlights 

  • 220,000 streetlights
    • 400 different designs
    • Range from shorter candelabra-like concrete pedestrian lighting to arterial streetlights that are made of steel and are 40 feet tall.
    • Virtual tour of L.A. Streetlight Museum here:
  • Nearly 4,500 miles of streets (Covering 2/3rds of the City)
  • Connected underground by a vast network 
    • 9,000 miles of conduit
    • 27,000 miles of copper wire. 

According to the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lights FAQ website page there are two different explanations for financing installation & maintenance of streetlighting systems in Los Angeles, possibly based on when the lights were installed, and costs grandfathered or frozen.

Only those who have street lighting pay for it. Safe Streets: LA Bureau of Street Lighting Assessments   Streetlights are predominantly funded by an Assessment for a designated Street Lighting Maintenance District.

Initial costs:

  • The capital costs of creating the streetlighting system is separate to which funding must be identified.   
  • Through the purchase of a property which has street lighting, or through an assessment for a street lighting project, property owners pay for installation of street lighting in the City of LA. 
  1. The General Fund for streetlights that are of general benefit*  
  2. Special funding sources such as Measure M in relation to its work on transit
  3. Grants tied to specific projects

Maintenance costs:

  • Property owners that benefit from streetlights are assessed annually via property taxes to pay for the cost of operating, repairing and maintaining the City’s streetlighting system.
    • Based on land use and acreage.
    • Annual assessment cost for the majority of residential streets in existing lighting districts that have been frozen since 1996 is $53. (Prop 218)
    • The annual cost for a typical single family residence with a newly formed maintenance assessment is currently $95.
    • The maintenance cost is billed to property owners as an assessment item on their L.A. County Property Tax Bill.
  • This is not paid for from the basic property taxes or other taxes. 
  • New assessments, or changes to existing assessments, require a vote of the affected property owners in compliance with Proposition 218, now part of the California Constitution.
    • Proposition 218 “Right to Vote on Taxes Act”  passed in November 1996 and became effective on July 1, 1997. 
    • Prior to Prop 218, a voter approval process was not required by local governments to impose assessments. 
    • Proposition 218 is an amendment to the California Constitution (Articles XIIIC and XIIID) requiring local governments to conduct a voter approval process amongst benefitting property owners to impose or increase any street lighting maintenance assessment before it could be levied.

Understanding Proposition 218 (ca.gov)

The Bureau is planning for a citywide ballot to update over 550,000 frozen parcels to current costs in order to properly maintain the City’s system of 223,000 streetlights. The status of a citywide Ballot remains pending.

Special Benefit is the direct street lighting benefit to a property, & to its owner or users,

  • When there is a single streetlight in front of or near the property in question, there is special benefit to the extent that the roadway and sidewalk are illuminated, notwithstanding that the street lighting system for the block is incomplete. 
  • Proposition 218 allows the assessment of properties which receive special benefit, to the extent that the assessment is not greater than the reasonable cost of the proportional special benefit conferred on those parcels.

General Benefit is defined as a benefit to properties in the surrounding community or a benefit to the public in general resulting from the improvements, activities or services to be provided by the assessment levy. 

  • Locations that do not benefit specific properties
  • Interim lighting for minimal traffic safety on wooden power poles and permanent lighting at intersections with mast arm or traffic vehicular heads. Any special benefit from these lights will be intangible and not quantifiable in relation to their General Benefit use. 
  • Proposition 218 requires the City to finance general benefit costs from other than property assessments. These costs are financed from public funds.

Smart City Portfolio: LA Bureau of Street Lighting (lacity.org)

Related: L.A. Traffic Signals - The Basics | San Fernando Valley News Portal (town.news)

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