Disaster Recovery District (DRD) Public Comment Points

Your comment doesn’t have to be perfect or technical to be effective. Please include whichever pieces from the below talking points and outline are helpful for you. The most important thing you can share is your story and why this matters to you:

• The ask:

  • We ask the Budget and Finance Committee to approve the Resolution of Intention for the Disaster Recovery District. 

• Why this matters to you

  • Your story in the Palisades and how the fire has impacted you and your family

• Why this matters for the Palisades community

  • A critical source of funding for the LTRP: The DRD can fund elements critical to our community’s recovery already referenced in the City’s Long-Term Recovery Plan including rebuilding damaged infrastructure, reducing wildfire risk, improving evacuation and emergency systems, restoring landscapes, and supporting economic recovery.

  • Public infrastructure investments accelerate individual rebuilding: Recovery is not just about rebuilding household by household and the public infrastructure, but also ensuring that we can return to houses and communities that meet high fire resilient standards, and that businesses can return and thrive. A community must have all these things to recover. 

• Why this matters for the City of LA

  • General fund impact: The Palisades Fire erased roughly $5 billion in assessed property value, translating to an estimated $17 million annual loss in City General Fund property tax revenue. Without modern infrastructure, rebuilding will drag on for years, prolonging that revenue loss. Investing upfront accelerates recovery, bringing that assessed value—and long-term tax flow—back online much sooner. 

  • County contribution: A DRD creates a legal structure that allows the County of Los Angeles to contribute a share of its own property tax increment toward shared infrastructure. Without this district, the City would have to fund critical repairs alone or leave them unfunded. 

  • Risk reduction: The DRD’s capital investments—slope and bulkhead stabilization, enhanced evacuation routes, and hardened drainage—directly mitigate future wildfire and mudslide risks. Preventing repeat catastrophes saves the City tens of millions in emergency response, debris removal, and other recovery expenses over the long term. 

  • Investment multiplier: Finally, the DRD can attract other investments, including from the private sector and philanthropy, ensuring the City does not have to shoulder the complete recovery cost. 

Upload your comment to the Council File here