How Measures ULA and SP Will Affect Taxes for All Angelenos

There’s no way we should raise any taxes that make it more expensive to live or work in the Los Angeles area, given that inflation today is above 8% and at a 40-year high. Measures like ULA and SP are specifically designed to accomplish this. Voters in the City of Los Angeles will decide on Measures ULA and SP on the ballot in November. On these ballot initiatives, we advise anyone to choose NO.

These two initiatives together result in a $1.1 billion property tax hike, the greatest tax increase in city history, which will raise prices across the board. If they are approved, small businesses and apartment rents will both increase by 6%. In the end, consumers will bear the burden of these two measures through higher prices on goods and services of all kinds. Owners of commercial buildings and multifamily housing will be “hit” the most by the passage of these measures, and as a result, prices for consumer goods and all types of services will increase to pay for these new taxes.

Measures like ULA and SP dismantle decades-old Prop 13 safeguards for tenants, homeowners, and small businesses.

Information on Measure ULA
On property sales of $5 million or more, Measure ULA, the so-called “United to House L.A.” proposal, would impose a new “documentary transfer tax.” A tax of 4% of the sale price would be applied to any property selling for between $5 million and $10 million, while a tax of 5.5% would be applied to houses selling for more than $10 million. That’s a substantial new tax of $800 million for the transfer of documents.

The new Measure ULA tax’s stated goal is to combat homelessness. Some of the funds would be used to build 26,000 additional housing units over a ten-year period. The remaining funds would be used to avoid homelessness, provide temporary rent relief, help disabled renters make ends meet, and provide free legal services to tenants who are being threatened with eviction. The failures of Measure HHH, which include the slow disbursement of funding and the soaring costs of building under the measure (with one-bedroom homes costing upwards of $800,000 each), have all already been witnessed.

While the bill claims to be directly at the wealthy. There will need to be a way to pay for more taxes, and that way is by raising the cost of all goods and services. In the end, these extra taxes and expenses will be borne by regular customers. 
Measure ULA would create a new “L.A. Tenant Councils and Citizens Oversight Committees” that could add up to $70 million in extra administrative and overhead expenses annually for taxpayers.

Information on Measure SP
The measure’s proponents claim that it is merely an extension of Proposition K.  Measure SP is a 908% increase above Proposition K and doesn’t expire until 2026.

Renters, homeowners, and small companies in Los Angeles will pay more in property taxes under Measure SP, which will raise the cost of all consumer products and services.

If approved, the typical family of four would have to pay hundreds extra in property taxes every year.

A “special tax” of around eight cents per square foot could be imposed by the City of Los Angeles under Measure SP in order to help pay for parks and other leisure-related initiatives.

Despite the fact that two other tax measures already in place allow Angelenos to pay for additional parks, Measure SP is still being introduced.

Before Angeleno residents are required to pay yet another tax increase, the City of Los Angeles should use the $150 million in unallocated park funds that are already available.

We advise anyone living in LA to vote no on these increases.