LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – A Los Angeles city committee on Thursday approved permanent homelessness prevention and affordable housing program guidelines under ULA, a real estate transfer tax.

The United to House LA Citizen Oversight Committee voted unanimously in favor of the permanent guidelines, which will now be forwarded to the City Council and Mayor Karen Bass for further review.

“The housing crisis in Los Angeles hurts us all and requires us to work harder and look further into the future than we have before,” committee member Laura Raymond said in a statement. “Experts say the commercialization of housing is driving homelessness in Los Angeles, and the ULA plan is an alternative that builds on proven approaches and can be put into practice today.”

In November 2022, Los Angeles voters passed Measure ULA, colloquially known as the “mansion tax.” It imposed a 4 percent tax on all properties sold for more than $5 million and a 5.5 percent levy on sales over $10 million. It took effect on April 1, 2023, and raised a total of $340 million in revenue, according to the Los Angeles Department of Housing.

The tax funds benefit various housing programs. Members have developed permanent guidelines with the goal of keeping them general enough, or “always current,” so they don’t need to be constantly updated, while also providing direction to achieve specific goals, says Cecilia Estolano, an executive assistant to the committee.

Committee members approved policies for the following programs that have been discussed since the measure was passed:

• Income support for rent-burdened seniors and people with disabilities;
• Short-term emergency aid;
• Opportunities for homeowners;
• capacity building;
• operational assistance;
• Affordable multi-family housing;
• Acquisition and renovation of affordable housing; and
• Alternative models for permanently affordable housing.

Other programs administered by the City of Los Angeles under this program include eviction defense and protection, tenant outreach and education, and tenant harassment protection.

The measure will allocate 10% of ULA funds to income assistance for seniors and people with disabilities. Estolano noted that these funds are intended to “lift” the city’s most vulnerable residents out of poverty while providing them with access to a network of housing resources. Short-term assistance will receive 5% of ULA funds to help low-income renters at risk of losing their housing due to one-time economic shocks. The funds can cover full rent payments for a period of up to six months.

Members agreed that short-time work assistance should include minimum payouts based on market factors and available resources and should be adjusted at least every three years. In addition, landlords who do not accept these funds will be investigated by prosecutors, and any documentation of their work can be used as an affirmative defense in court in case the tenant fights an eviction.

A capacity-building program will receive 10% of ULA funding for proposals such as community land trusts. These funds will advance various housing models and provide participants with training in property management, among other things.

10% of ULA funds will also be allocated to the Operating Assistance Program, which supports new construction, acquisition or rehabilitation of existing housing in the form of project-based, multi-year rental, operating or service grants. Projects that provide housing for residents earning 80% or less of the area median income would be eligible for these funds.

One commissioner noted that these policies will be “transformative,” particularly the alternative housing program models that would provide Los Angeles residents with a permanent place to call home and create new relationships between tenants and their own buildings.

During the public hearing, more than 25 people spoke in favor of the guidelines. Several of these people are members of various organizations such as the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, the United to House LA coalition, the LA/OC Building Trades Union, SEIU 2015 and the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, which also held a rally before the meeting.

“In less than two years, ULA has gone from the idea of ​​an unprecedented coalition to an integral part of the city’s budget and programs and the most powerful tool we have to end the housing crisis,” said Joe Donlin, director of the United to House LA coalition, in a statement. “ULA is already funding comprehensive, permanent solutions to Los Angeles’ housing and homelessness crisis, and with this plan, we will see a new housing reality even faster.”