Council Member Proposes 15-Year Measure ULA Exemption For New Commercial Construction

Dramatic amendments to the real estate transfer tax Measure ULA could be placed on the June ballot after one of the more progressive members of the Los Angeles City Council introduced a measure to change the tax.

On Friday, Councilmember Nithya Raman introduced a motion that would place changes to Measure ULA on the ballot.

The most dramatic change would be adding an exemption from ULA for new multifamily, commercial and mixed-use projects sold within 15 years of their certificate of occupancy date. Buildings in these categories that are "substantial rehabilitation" projects would also qualify for the exemption. 

Multifamily properties only need to have four units or more to qualify for the exemption. Another proposed amendment would give Palisades Fire victims and victims of future natural disasters a three-year exemption. 

Measure ULA puts a 4% tax on transactions starting at approximately $5M and a 5.5% tax on transactions of roughly $10M or more. The measure, which went into effect in April 2023, officially surpassed $1B in revenue at the end of last year. 

The sale of single-family homes accounts for $441.5M of Measure ULA revenue so far, followed by commercial properties, which yielded $353.6M in revenue, according to a dashboard of ULA transactions maintained by the city's Housing Department. Multifamily accounted for $171.9M in ULA-eligible sales so far.  

While Measure ULA revenue is "an integral resource to Los Angeles," it is also causing traditional lenders to "move their support to other housing markets across the country," which imperils housing production in Los Angeles, Raman wrote in the motion. 

The motion also acknowledges the challenges to Measure ULA posed by ballot measures. 

"There’s multiple efforts to undo ULA entirely, to take it away from us completely," Raman said at the city council meeting Friday.

The full council is scheduled to discuss the motion Tuesday.