As a result, Measure ULA hasn't raised nearly as much as originally projected.

Early proponents of Measure ULA estimated the tax would raise roughly $900 million per year. Last March, a report from the City Administrative Office lowered that number to $672 million.

At $215 million, the total is well short of initial projections, but Greg Good, a senior advisor on policy and external affairs for the L.A. Housing Department, said he expects it to be much higher going forward.

In the first three months of Measure ULA, the tax raised $15 million, only $5 million per month. But from July 2023 to February 2024, the tax raised roughly $200 million, or $25 million per month. Projections for the city's fiscal year, which starts on July 1 and ends on June 30, would be around $300 million.

"Despite litigation, despite the chilled market, despite the wealth defense industry designed to help the rich protect their money from taxes, that's $300 million for housing and homelessness initiatives," Good said.

So far, the city has spent around $28 million in aid to distressed tenants and landlords, $23 million on eviction protection and tenant outreach and $56.8 million on loans to accelerate the development of affordable multifamily housing projects.

"None of that happens without ULA," Good said.

L.A.'s real estate community has fought the tax tooth-and-nail, campaigning against the measure when it was on the ballot in November 2022 and trying to find ways to overturn it after it was passed.

The latest challenge — a lawsuit claiming the tax was unconstitutional — was shut down in October, when an L.A. County judge dismissed the case, but the plaintiffs are in the process of appealing the decision.

The next hurdle the measure will face comes in November, when Californians will vote on a statewide ballot initiative called the "Taxpayer Protection Act." If passed, the act would require special taxes to be approved by two-thirds of the vote instead of a simple majority, applying to all measures adopted after Jan. 1, 2022. Since Measure ULA was adopted in 2023 and only received 57% approval, it could require another vote or potentially be repealed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom filed an emergency petition to remove the initiative from the ballot, but the status of the petition is unclear.

"This is a David-vs.-Goliath story. Moneyed interests are trying to stop Angelenos from addressing this existential crisis, but I believe voters will flip the script at the polls and beat it back," Good said. "We're going to attack the housing crisis with vigor and zeal for as long as it takes."

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