Ysabel Jurado to Helm Measure ULA Committee

Moves to potentially amend Measure United to House L.A. will press ahead next week with an ad hoc committee helmed by Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.

Jurado, who represents the 14th Council District, will serve as committee chair, her office announced on Thursday, joined by John Lee of the 12th District and 6th District representative Imelda Padilla.

A date for the first meeting has not been scheduled, however, it must take place by March 27 to provide the committee with enough time to discuss and make recommendations to the city council for a possible November ballot measure, a spokesperson for Jurado told The Real Deal.

Ensuring ULA is “delivering real results” will be at the crux of the committee’s responsibilities, Jurado said in a statement.

The committee will tackle any pending council matters related to the so-called mansion tax, which voters passed in 2022 to generate revenue for affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs.

Measure ULA applies a 4 percent tax on all residential and commercial real estate deals, including apartment complexes, starting at $5.3 million. That rises to 5.5 percent for trades of $10.6 million or more.

The city council approved the committee’s formation last week after Jurado and City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson introduced a motion to form the three-person group. It now has until its April 30 dissolution date to sort through all ULA matters.

“There are things in ULA that I frankly think were not in the spirit of voters, like taxing the building of affordable housing as one example,” Harris-Dawson, who made the committee assignments, said during a council meeting last week.

ULA provides some exemptions for affordable housing deals, but a community land trust or nonprofit with “a history of affordable housing development and/or affordable housing property management experience” must be connected to the transaction, as outlined by the city’s finance office.

While real estate has long been critical of the tax, ULA critics from within city hall have become louder more recently, particularly as it relates to the impact on affordable housing development.

Mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman, who represents the 4th Council District, called the tax’s impact on multifamily development the “unintended consequences” of ULA. The Democratic Socialist of America in late January attempted to fast track a June ballot measure that would have offered a 15-year ULA exemption for new multifamily, commercial and mixed-use construction. Raman’s proposal also included a carveout for property owners impacted by natural disasters, which addresses concerns raised post-Palisades fire by many residential and commercial property owners in the fire-stricken Los Angeles neighborhood.

Raman’s motion was ultimately kicked to the city’s Housing and Homelessness Committee and Finance Committee.

Jurado and 1st District Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, just days after Raman’s motion, called for a broad review of any impacts amendments to ULA amendments could have on its revenue stream.

Jurado’s spokesperson said it’s unclear what would be prioritized on the agenda for the new ULA ad hoc committee.

Since implementation, ULA proponents have touted the $1.1 billion raised as proof of its efficacy. As of Wednesday, nearly 60 percent of the funds generated from the tax have come from single-family transactions amounting to $463.4 million, according to Los Angeles Housing Department data.

Commercial has raised the next largest ULA revenue stream, accounting for 25 percent of total revenue, or $406.1 million.