The ballot initiative will test voter appetite for another taxpayer-funded program for the homeless. Los Angeles voters in 2016 approved Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond to provide as much as 10,000 housing units for the unsheltered. About $1 billion of that money has been committed to projects, of which $167 million are already in service, according to a February report by the Los Angeles mayor’s office.
However, that initiative has stumbled in its rollout. Only 14% of the 10,000 planned income-restricted supportive housing units have been built and the average cost for each home increased 12% to $596,846 in 2021 -- with some being built for as much as $837,000 per unit, according to Controller Ron Galperin.
Anthony Vulin, president of the Greater Los Angeles Realtors, said the proposed hike in the transfer tax will increase prices for multifamily units -- which can house lower- and middle-income families.
“It’s not just affecting homeowners,” Vulin said, adding the impact “could trickle down to the renters. It’s the wrong time to do this and places more of a burden on homeowners and renters.”
--With assistance from John Gittelsohn.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.