A plan to cut a California tax is going to voters. Why LA’s ‘mansion tax’ is at the center of it

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California's secretary of state announced Tuesday that a tax-chopping proposition — one backers have spent years trying to put before voters — is now officially eligible for the November ballot. Come fall, anti-tax advocates and real estate developers may have reason to rejoice; city governments, public sector unions and the city of Los Angeles could have reason to worry.

The qualification announcement for a real estate-oriented constitutional amendment also gives California's Democratic lawmakers reason to start frantically negotiating toward a deal to keep the measure off the ballot entirely, even though the measure’s backers publicly say they aren’t interested.

Branded the “Local Taxpayer Protection Act” by its sponsor, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the newly eligible measure would both sharply cap municipal transfer taxes — fees slapped on real estate sales — and make it harder for voter-sponsored campaigns to raise taxes in local elections.

The measure would hit cities like Berkeley, San Mateo and Alameda — which rely on transfer taxes for a significant share of their funding — especially hard. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, it would cost local governments “a couple of billion dollars” per year, with taxpayers collectively saving just as much.

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