If you've glanced at a receipt in Redondo Beach lately and wondered why the tax line seems higher than you remember, you're not imagining it. The combined sales tax rate in Redondo Beach is 10.25%as of April 2025 — up from 9.5% the year before. That increase came from LA County Measure A, a half-cent transportation tax approved by voters in November 2024. Here's a plain-English breakdown of what you're paying, who gets the money, and how it affects the city's bottom line.
Where the 10.25% comes from
California's sales tax isn't a single tax — it's a stack of rates from different levels of government, all collected together at the register. In Redondo Beach, the 10.25% breaks down like this:
State of California: 7.25%. This is the statewide base rate. It includes 6% that goes to the state's General Fund, 0.25% for county transportation funds, 0.50% to county public safety (Proposition 172), and 0.50% for local health and social services realignment. Every city in California starts at this 7.25% floor.
Los Angeles County Measure A: 0.50%. This is the new one. Approved by LA County voters in November 2024 and effective April 1, 2025, Measure A replaced the old Measure M transportation tax with a permanent half-cent sales tax funding Metro transit operations, bus and rail expansion, highway improvements, and active transportation projects across the county. It's the reason your receipt jumped.
LA County Measure H and other district taxes: 2.25%. The remaining district taxes include Measure H (homelessness services, 0.25%), plus additional Metro and county transportation taxes that have accumulated over decades. These district-level taxes are what push LA County cities well above the state base rate.
City of Redondo Beach (Bradley-Burns): 1.00%. This is the city's direct share. Under California's Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law, every city that levies a local sales tax gets exactly 1% of taxable sales. It's the city's single largest discretionary revenue source after property taxes, and it goes straight into the General Fund to pay for police, fire, parks, and city operations.
What the city actually collects
Of that 10.25%, Redondo Beach keeps 1 cent of every dollar spent on taxable goods and services within city limits. For FY 2026–27, the city budgeted $11.2 millionin sales and use tax revenue — a modest increase from $11.0 million the prior year. That makes sales tax the city's second-largest General Fund revenue source, behind property taxes (roughly $48.8 million) but ahead of hotel taxes, utility taxes, and fees.
The “use tax” part matters too. When you buy something online from an out-of-state retailer and have it shipped to your Redondo Beach address, the use tax applies at the same rate as the sales tax. Since California's 2019 marketplace facilitator law (following the Supreme Court's Wayfair decision), most major online platforms — Amazon, Walmart.com, eBay — collect and remit the tax automatically. That means online purchases delivered to Redondo Beach addresses generate city revenue just like a purchase at a local store.
What's taxed and what isn't
California's sales tax rules are more nuanced than most residents realize. The short version: tangible goods are generally taxable; most services are not. But the exceptions and edge cases fill volumes.
Taxed: Clothing, furniture, electronics, appliances, building materials, restaurant meals (whether dine-in or takeout), prepared food, alcohol, non-prescription drugs, and most retail merchandise. A dinner at Quality Seafood or a new surfboard from a local shop both carry the full 10.25%.
Not taxed:Groceries (unprepared food from a supermarket), prescription medications, and most services (haircuts, legal advice, accounting, medical care). If you buy a bag of groceries at Vons on Pacific Coast Highway, those items are exempt. If you buy a rotisserie chicken from the deli counter, that's prepared food — taxable.
The gray areas: Hot beverages, food sold with utensils, food sold through a vending machine above a certain price, and candy (taxable in California, unlike some states) all have specific rules. The practical takeaway for residents: your grocery run is mostly tax-free, but everything from the prepared foods section, bakery counter, and hot bar gets taxed.
How Redondo compares to neighbors
Because the state base rate and county district taxes apply uniformly across unincorporated LA County and most of its cities, Redondo Beach's 10.25%is the same rate you'll pay in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, and most other South Bay cities. It's the standard LA County rate.
A few cities in the county have higher rates because they've passed their own local sales tax measures on top of the Bradley-Burns 1%. Inglewood, for example, sits at 10.25% currently but has additional special taxing districts. Santa Monica is at 10.25% as well. The statewide cap on combined district taxes means rates can't exceed a threshold, though Los Angeles County is already among the highest in the state.
If you're comparison shopping for a big-ticket purchase, driving to another South Bay city won't save you anything — the rate is the same. You'd need to shop in a county with fewer district taxes (parts of Orange County or Riverside County are lower) to see a meaningful difference, and even then the savings on most purchases wouldn't justify the gas.
Why it matters for Redondo Beach
Sales tax revenue is a barometer of local economic health. When residents and visitors spend money at Redondo Beach businesses — at the pier, in Riviera Village, along Artesia Boulevard, at auto dealers and home improvement stores — the city gets its 1% cut. That revenue pays for the services residents rely on every day.
For a city of roughly 66,500 people, $11.2 million in annual sales tax revenue translates to about $168 per resident flowing into city coffers from everyday commerce. The city has limited tools to grow this number: attract more retail, encourage residents to shop local instead of driving to other cities, and support the tourism economy that brings visitor spending to the waterfront and local restaurants.
Unlike property taxes — which are constrained by Proposition 13's 1% cap and grow slowly — sales tax revenue rises and falls with economic conditions. A recession, a shift to online shopping, or a major business closure can dent the city's sales tax take. Conversely, new development, a thriving restaurant scene, and strong consumer confidence push it higher. The city's modest $200,000 year-over-year increase in budgeted sales tax (from $11.0M to $11.2M) reflects cautious optimism about where that balance will land.
The bottom line
The 10.25% you see on your receipt is a shared number — the state takes the biggest piece, the county takes several layers for transportation and social services, and Redondo Beach keeps a straightforward 1%. The city's share is small in percentage terms but significant in dollar terms: $11.2 million that helps keep the city budget balanced and services running.
If you want the full picture of where all of Redondo Beach's money comes from and where it goes, we break it down in our FY 2026–27 budget analysis. And if you're curious about the other tax that hits your wallet — the one that comes once a year from the county assessor — see our property tax guide.