Updated October 16, 2026.
If you own a home in Palos Verdes Estates, Redondo Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Hermosa Beach or El Segundo, there is a local measure on your November 3, 2026 ballot. Only one of them would arrive on a property tax bill.
That is the useful sorting. Each measure asks a different group to pay, and the group decides whether it touches you at all. Below is what each one does, drawn from the cities’ own ballot language and city attorneys’ impartial analyses, and what it would mean for someone who owns or is buying here. We take no position on any of them.
Which local measures are on the South Bay ballot?
From the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s final list of measures appearing on the ballot, revised August 20, 2026:
| Measure | Jurisdiction | What it is | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| PVE | Palos Verdes Estates | Police services and pension liability parcel tax | Property owners, by parcel |
| ART | Redondo Beach | General Plan and Zoning amendments | Nobody, by tax |
| RS | Rancho Palos Verdes | Transient occupancy tax, 10 to 13 percent | Hotel and motel guests |
| HB | Hermosa Beach | Local sales tax of 0.5 percent | Shoppers, on taxable purchases |
| CT | El Segundo | Business license tax on certain nonprofits | Those organizations |
Los Angeles County also has two charter amendments on the ballot, Measure A on labor disputes and binding arbitration and Measure E on the Ethics Commission. Neither touches real estate.
Manhattan Beach, Torrance, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates have no local measure on the Registrar’s list, and neither do the Peninsula, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance or El Segundo school districts. A sample ballot for a specific address is the final word on what that voter sees.
Which measure reaches a property tax bill?
Measure PVE, in Palos Verdes Estates, and it is the only one.
It would raise the flat portion of the city’s parcel tax from $342 to $1,025 per taxable parcel, an increase of $683 a year, or about $57 a month. The 20 cents per square foot of taxable building improvements does not change. The new rate would begin July 1, 2027, run six years, and end June 30, 2033. It needs two thirds of the votes cast.
Because only the flat part moves, the increase is the same $683 on a 1,400 square foot house and on a 6,000 square foot house. On the city’s median home of 2,745 square feet, the parcel tax line goes from $891 a year to $1,574.
Measure PVE would replace Measure E, the parcel tax approved in April 2018 that funds most of the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department. Measure E expires June 30, 2027 whether or not Measure PVE passes. The city states that if it does not pass, it loses about $5,100,000 a year from the 2027-28 fiscal year, roughly 20 percent of General Fund revenue and close to 60 percent of the police budget.
What would Measure ART change in Redondo Beach?
Measure ART is the only measure on this ballot that changes what can be built on a parcel, which makes it the one with the longest reach for property.
Redondo Beach’s development rules live in its General Plan, Zoning, Coastal Land Use Plan and Coastal Zoning, which the City Attorney’s impartial analysis calls the Plans. Those Plans set residential density in dwelling units per acre and building intensity as floor area ratio, which the analysis defines as the total building floor area divided by the total land area. The state recommends updating them at least once every 20 years. Redondo Beach last substantially updated them in 1992, began a new update in 2016, and the City Council adopted amendments in 2024 and 2026. Article XXVII of the City Charter requires a public vote before those amendments take effect, which is why this is on the ballot.
Along Artesia and Aviation Boulevards, the measure would redesignate some areas to a Neighborhood Commercial zone, raise the maximum floor area ratio from 0.6 to 1.5, raise the maximum building height from 30 to 45 feet, raise development potential from two stories to three, and set pedestrian-oriented architectural and design standards.
In plain arithmetic, a floor area ratio of 0.6 on a 10,000 square foot lot allows 6,000 square feet of building. At 1.5 it allows 15,000.
North of Manhattan Beach Boulevard, the maximum floor area ratio in industrial areas would go from 0.7 to 1.0. Along Pacific Coast Highway, some areas would move to a Commercial C-4 zone, raising the maximum floor area ratio from 0.5 to 1.0. Along Artesia Boulevard, the Galleria Mall, Torrance Boulevard, Pacific Coast Highway and certain coastal areas, the measure would convert some properties from mixed-use and residential to commercial zoning, reduce residential density in some areas from 35 to 30 dwelling units per acre, raise it in other areas from 28 to 30, create a Mixed-Use Transit Center zone, and establish an Industrial Flex overlay allowing light industrial and commercial uses at a maximum floor area ratio of 1.0.
Two limits the impartial analysis states directly. A majority of voters makes the measure effective, but the Plan amendments inside the Coastal Zone also need California Coastal Commission approval before they take effect, so a yes vote is not the last step along the coast. And the measure does not include amendments to Public Institutional zones, naming school property, the Civic Center and Beach Cities Health District property.
If you own on one of those corridors, the answer runs one direction. If you own where density would drop from 35 to 30 dwelling units per acre, it runs the other. The City has posted descriptions, maps and technical analyses, which Article XXVII requires it to produce.
What does Measure RS do in Rancho Palos Verdes?
Measure RS would raise the Rancho Palos Verdes transient occupancy tax, a tax on short stays in lodging, from 10 percent to 13 percent. The City Attorney’s impartial analysis puts the scope in one sentence: it is “a general tax paid only by guests staying at hotels and motels in Rancho Palos Verdes for 30 days or less.”
A Rancho Palos Verdes homeowner does not pay it. Neither does a buyer. It needs a majority and would take effect ten days after the City Council certifies the results.
Where it touches property is on the spending side. The city estimates about $2,200,000 a year more to its General Fund for general city services, naming public safety, emergency preparedness and response, street maintenance and wildfire mitigation. Those are the same conditions that sit behind insurance questions and disclosure on the Peninsula, and the measure would fund them from lodging revenue.
What is Measure HB in Hermosa Beach?
A local sales tax of 0.5 percent, which the city states as one-half cent, or 50 cents on $100 in taxable purchases. Groceries and prescription medicine are exempt. The city estimates about $2,000,000 a year.
The city names the uses: paving streets and fixing potholes, repairing streets, sidewalks, storm drains and other aging infrastructure, fire protection, paramedic and rapid 9-1-1 response, police and crime prevention, parks, beaches, playgrounds, public facilities, landscaping and street trees, and e-bike enforcement. Hermosa Beach also states that it addressed a projected budget deficit this year with about $4,500,000 in spending reductions, deferrals and operational changes.
It needs a majority. A homeowner pays it the same way any shopper does, on taxable purchases, and it does not appear on a property tax bill.
Hermosa Beach also had a measure lettered HB on the November 2024 ballot, a sales tax that did not pass. The figures above are from the city’s 2026 measure page.
What is Measure CT in El Segundo?
The city’s ballot language: “Shall an Ordinance amending the City’s Business License Tax Ordinance to restore and impose a business license tax on nonprofit organizations that do not serve a charitable purpose, and also to exempt charitable organizations from having to pay a business license tax, thereby indefinitely restoring approximately $700,000 general funds annually, be adopted?”
El Segundo states that a yes vote exempts charitable nonprofits from the business license tax and requires non-charitable nonprofit business entities to pay the regularly applicable tax. It needs a majority. It does not reach a homeowner or a buyer directly.
What has a past local measure paid for?
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Redondo Beach Unified School District’s Measure S shows what a voter-approved local measure looks like after the vote. The district’s banners mark it as voter approved, and Easy Reader reported on April 18, 2025 that the school board had approved the first Measure S projects: up to $54 million for security cameras, buzzer systems and fencing, along with other work. For an owner or a buyer in the district, that is a ballot line turned into actual improvements at schools that directly benefit students.
What do the Los Angeles and Culver City measures change for property?
San Pedro, Harbor City and Wilmington sit inside the City of Los Angeles, so city measures on the November 3 ballot reach South Bay owners there, and they reach the Westside, where Chhabria Real Estate Company also works. Culver City has its own school measure. Here is what each does, as the city and the county list it.
Measure TE: sales of Palisades Fire properties and the Proposition ULA tax
Los Angeles voters are asked whether to exempt certain homes damaged or destroyed in the January 2025 Palisades Fire from the Proposition ULA transfer tax when they sell. Proposition ULA, the Homelessness and Housing Solutions Tax, charges 4 percent on sales above about $5.4 million and 5.5 percent on sales of $10.9 million or more, with the thresholds adjusted each year. Measure TE would apply to residential properties above $5 million (adjusted for inflation) that the Department of Building and Safety verifies as damaged or destroyed, where the seller owned the property on the day the fire began. It covers sales from January 7, 2025 through January 6, 2030, applies once per property, and lets the Director of Finance refund ULA tax already paid. The City Administrative Officer estimates the exemption would cost between $35 million and $66 million in ULA revenue through January 2030, with the higher figure assuming sales volume doubles. That money funds affordable housing and homelessness prevention, not the city’s General Fund. For a Westside owner whose home was in the fire, the measure changes what a sale costs at the closing table. For anyone else, it changes how much ULA revenue the city collects. Source: Los Angeles City Clerk, Measure TE, impartial analysis by Sharon M. Tso, Chief Legislative Analyst, with a financial impact statement by Matthew W. Szabo, City Administrative Officer, read October 17, 2026.
Measure PL: how the City of Los Angeles reviews planning decisions
Measure PL amends the City Charter. It would replace the seven Area Planning Commissions, 35 commissioners in all, with one Neighborhood Appeals Commission of at least seven members that hears administrative appeals fresh. It would give the Planning Department authority over quasi-judicial applications, set new deadlines for the City Council to take up planning decisions, and treat a General Plan amendment as approved if Council does not act within 75 days of approval by the Mayor and City Planning Commission, where current law treats silence as disapproval. It would also let Council change by ordinance the Charter’s cap on total building floor area, now 13 times a site’s buildable area. The City Administrative Officer estimates commission costs would fall by $360,000 a year, from $1.1 million to $740,000. For a San Pedro or Westside owner planning an addition or a rebuild, the measure changes who hears an appeal and how long each step can run. It does not change any zoning rule by itself. Source: Los Angeles City Clerk, Measure PL, same authors; the City Council ordinance placing the amendment on the ballot; and LAist, read October 17, 2026.
Measure AA: Culver City school parcel tax
Culver City voters will see Measure AA, a parcel tax for Culver City Unified School District. The Los Angeles County Registrar lists it at $0.48 per square foot of building for ten years on a majority vote. LAist reports that the rate is flat, applies to residential and commercial buildings alike, is capped at $15,000 per parcel, starts July 1, 2027, and exempts owners 65 or older and owners receiving Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance. Supporters estimate about $18 million a year for local schools. For a Culver City owner, the yearly amount is the building’s square footage times the rate: a 2,000 square foot house works out to $960 a year. The measure would add to the district’s existing parcel tax, which voters renewed in 2024. Culver City’s own site did not open for us, so the figures here come from the county list and from LAist and Culver City Crossroads (July 20, 2026). Early coverage used the phrase sliding scale for an earlier version of the proposal, and the county list and LAist both show a flat rate. Source for the measure list: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, revised August 20, 2026, read October 17, 2026.
Where can you vote in person near the South Bay?
Los Angeles County Vote Centers open for in-person voting before Election Day. Some open October 24 and stay open through November 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Most open October 31 on the same hours. Every Vote Center is open on Election Day, November 3, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Vote-by-mail ballots were mailed no later than October 5. The county’s directory lists these locations near the South Bay, and the county’s locator is the place to confirm a site before you go.
| Area | Vote Center | First day open |
|---|---|---|
| Hermosa Beach | Hermosa Kiwanis Club, 2515 Valley Dr | October 24 |
| Manhattan Beach | Marine Avenue Park, 1625 Marine Ave | October 31 |
| Manhattan Beach | Neptunian Woman’s Club, 920 Highland Ave | October 31 |
| Redondo Beach | Alta Vista Park, 715 Julia Ave | October 31 |
| Redondo Beach | Beach Cities Health District, 514 N Prospect Ave | October 31 |
| Redondo Beach | South Bay Galleria, 1815 Hawthorne Blvd | October 31 |
| El Segundo | Cambria Hotel LAX, 199 Continental Blvd | October 24 |
| El Segundo | El Segundo Public Library, 111 W Mariposa Ave | October 31 |
| Torrance | Mary K Giordano Regional Transit Center, 465 Crenshaw Blvd | October 24 |
| Torrance | Walteria Park, 3855 W 242nd St | October 24 |
| Torrance | El Camino Community College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd | October 31 |
| Torrance | Herma Tillim Senior Center, 3612 Artesia Blvd | October 31 |
| Torrance | J H Hull Middle School, 2080 W 231st St | October 31 |
| Torrance | Levy Adult Center, 3420 W 229th Pl | October 31 |
| Torrance | Normandale Recreation Center, 22400 Halldale Ave | October 31 |
| Torrance | North High School, 3620 W 182nd St | October 31 |
| Torrance | South High School, 4801 Pacific Coast Hwy | October 31 |
| Torrance | Torrance Marriott Redondo Beach, 3635 Fashion Way | October 31 |
| Lomita | Lomita Library, 24200 Narbonne Ave | October 24 |
| Lomita | Harbor Hills Apartments, 26607 S Western Ave | October 31 |
| Palos Verdes Estates | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District office, 300 Paseo Del Mar | October 31 |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | Dodson Middle School, 28014 S Montereina Dr | October 31 |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | Fred Hesse Community Park, 29301 Hawthorne Blvd | October 31 |
| Rolling Hills Estates | Peninsula Center Library, 701 Silver Spur Rd | October 24 |
| Rolling Hills Estates | First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes, 28 Moccasin Ln | October 31 |
| Rolling Hills | Rancho Del Mar High School, 38 Crest Rd W | October 31 |
| San Pedro | Italian American Club, 1903 S Cabrillo Ave | October 24 |
| San Pedro | Croatian American Club, 631 W 9th St | October 31 |
| San Pedro | Hinchliffe San Pedro and Peninsula YMCA, 301 S Bandini St | October 31 |
| San Pedro | Leland Street Elementary School, 2120 S Leland St | October 31 |
| San Pedro | Taper Avenue Elementary School, 1824 N Taper Ave | October 31 |
| San Pedro | The Grand Annex Music Hall, 434 W 6th St | October 31 |
| Culver City | Culver City City Hall, 9770 Culver Blvd | October 24 |
| Culver City | West Los Angeles College, 9000 Overland Ave | October 31 |
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Vote Center directory for the November 3, 2026 General Election, read October 17, 2026.
What this adds up to if you own or are buying here
If you own in Palos Verdes Estates, one measure on this ballot has a dollar figure that lands on your bill, and the figure is published: $683 a year more beginning with the tax year that starts July 1, 2027, if it passes. If you are weighing a sale in the next two years, that is a dated, public number a buyer’s agent will find.
If you own in Redondo Beach along Artesia, Aviation, Pacific Coast Highway or near the Galleria, Measure ART changes what your parcel and the ones around it may become. That shows up in land value before it shows up anywhere else.
If you own in Rancho Palos Verdes, Hermosa Beach or El Segundo, none of your city’s measures reaches your property tax bill. What changes is what your city can fund.
If you are buying anywhere in the South Bay, the parcel tax is the line to ask about separately from the roughly 1.1 percent ad valorem property tax, because it does not scale with what you pay for the house. Two homes at the same price in different Palos Verdes hills cities do not carry the same parcel tax.
What we report next
Los Angeles County certifies results in the weeks after November 3. We will carry the outcome and the certified vote counts once the Registrar posts them, and where a measure passes we will carry the first real figures when they land. A separate piece on the statewide propositions that touch housing, property taxes and construction follows this one.
We do our very best to supply facts drawn from official sources so that the information you find here is reliable and accurate. If we find conflicting information, we report on all of it.
This is general information about local ballot measures, not real estate, tax, lending, legal, financial or investment advice, and not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold, list or price any property, or to vote any particular way on any measure. For how a parcel tax applies to a specific parcel, check with the city or your own tax advisor.
Buying, selling, or still deciding if the South Bay is where you’ll settle down next?
Neil Chhabria, Broker
Chhabria Real Estate Company, DRE 01821437
310.798.3122, neil@chhabriare.com
Sources
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Final Measures Appearing on the Ballot, revised August 20, 2026, read October 15, 2026. City of Palos Verdes Estates, read October 15, 2026. City of Redondo Beach City Clerk and Article XXVII materials, read October 16, 2026. City of Rancho Palos Verdes Measure RS and the City Attorney’s impartial analysis signed William W. Wynder, dated August 14, 2026, read October 16, 2026. City of Hermosa Beach Ballot Measure HB, read October 16, 2026. City of El Segundo Measure CT, read October 16, 2026. Easy Reader, Garth Meyer, April 18, 2025, read October 17, 2026. Los Angeles City Clerk, Measure TE and Measure PL analyses, read October 17, 2026. Los Angeles County Vote Center directory, read October 17, 2026. LAist and Culver City Crossroads, July 20, 2026 on Measure AA, read October 17, 2026.
