LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday updated a proposal intended to expand tax relief for businesses impacted by the January wildfires.
In a 12-0 vote, council members directed the City Attorney’s Office to make a few changes to the proposed ordinance, which seeks to waive 2025 taxes for businesses that were destroyed or whose operations were interrupted for 60 days or more.
Councilwomen Traci Park, Nithya Raman and Monica Rodriguez were absent during the vote.
“Thousands of businesses were lost or interrupted during the wildfires,” Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez said. “The impacts have been devastating from small businesses like restaurants and cafes to gardeners and housekeepers.”
“There are countless Angelenos who lost important records and equipment, and will now struggle to file their 2025 business taxes,” she added. “As a city, we have to take action to help them and prevent a second wave of crises.”
Under the proposal, business owners will have to file an application with the city showing proof of closure or economic impact. Once the application is live, business owners would have until April 14 to file their paperwork with the Office of Finance.
According to a report from the City Attorney’s Office, the relief they anticipate to offer is similar to what was implemented during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
For businesses that later resume their operations, the city will treat them as a newly established business and they would have to file taxes by Jan. 1, 2026.
City officials estimated that they could lose roughly $8 million in tax revenue by offering this relief. Hernandez noted it is a “cost well taken” to prevent a much larger impact to the local economy.
Park, who represents Pacific Palisades, introduced the motion in January.
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