Los Angeles ‘Mansion Tax’ to Fund Housing Survives Legal Threat

A Los Angeles tax on real estate sales and transfers worth more than $5 million that voters approved last year is valid and a legal challenge to it is without merit, a California judge ruled Tuesday, dismissing the suit.

Limits to voter initiatives should be narrowly construed, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara M. Scheper said in her Tuesday ruling. Because Los Angeles is a charter city, arguments that the tax is blocked by a section of the state constitution preventing local governments from imposing real estate sales tax do not apply, she said.

“Under ...