LOS ANGELES – Today, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced that Measure ULA, the “Los Angeles Program to Prevent Homelessness and Fund Affordable Housing,” was affirmed in LA Superior Court following a lawsuit seeking to invalidate it brought by property owners and anti-tax groups.
Measure ULA, approved by voters in the November 8, 2022, election, mandates that - for real estate sales or transfers of over $5 million - a special tax be implemented with the funds allocated to various housing and homeless-related programs administered by the LA Housing Department. Following its passage, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and, separately, Newcastle Courtyards, sued to halt its implementation. Today’s ruling dismissed those legal challenges.
“I am pleased that the will of Los Angeles voters has been upheld and that much needed dollars will continue to fund affordable housing projects and initiatives aimed at preventing homelessness,” said LA City Attorney Feldstein Soto.
“In order to truly address the homelessness crisis we must also prevent people from falling into homelessness in the first place,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “With the ongoing lawsuit, we had to be conservative with the dollars but more importantly, we knew we could not wait to start providing Angelenos with the much needed rent relief that accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to thank City Attorney Feldstein Soto and the Los Angeles Housing department for their work to navigate this lawsuit, and the City Council for entrusting us to use these important dollars as we continue to confront the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.”
Chief Assistant City Attorneys Valerie Flores and Scott Marcus, and Deputy City Attorneys Daniel Whitley, Harit Trivedi, and Charles Hong managed this case, assisted by outside counsel Burke Williams & Sorenson.
Civil Case #22STCV39662 - Ruling
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, et al. vs City of Los Angeles, et al.
Posted on 10/26/2023