Los Angeles Council Moves to Put Exemption for New Apartment Sales on November Ballot

The proposal would send voters a plan to exempt newly built multifamily and mixed-use buildings from the city’s transfer tax and could cut funding for affordable housing programs.

Overview

The City Council voted 9–5 to ask the City Attorney to draft ballot language that would exempt multifamily and residential mixed-use buildings sold within 10 years of construction from Measure ULA, a motion approved Wednesday.
Under the draft proposal the transfer tax would no longer apply to those new buildings and the change must win a final council vote and voter approval in November before it takes effect.
Council members also unanimously directed the City Attorney to draft a separate five-year, retroactive exemption for homeowners affected by the Pacific Palisades fire.
Measure ULA has raised roughly $1.19–$1.2 billion since 2023 but city officials have struggled to spend the money and the City Attorney has refused to sign $177 million in tenant-aid contracts tied to the law.
Advocates and analysts disagree on causes and consequences: RAND and developers report large drops in high-value sales and big multifamily starts tied to ULA, while supporters point to high interest rates and recent building upticks and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has qualified a competing repeal measure for the same November ballot.