What Is Measure ULA? Why One Dollar Over $5.4 Million Can Cost $216,000

What is Measure ULA? It is a City of Los Angeles tax charged when a property sells above a set price. For sales closing after June 30, 2026, a sale over $5,400,000 carries a 4% ULA tax. A sale of $10,900,000 or more carries 5.5%. Both rates sit on top of the city's base transfer tax of 0.45%.

Los Feliz is inside the City of Los Angeles, so ULA applies to home sales here. At Rooster Homes, it is one of the first things we check when a Los Feliz home could sell near $5.4 million. This guide covers the 2026 numbers and why the line works like a cliff. It also shows how to plan a price around it.

Every rate and rule here comes from the City of Los Angeles Office of Finance Measure ULA page. The dollar examples are worked out from those published rates.

The City of Los Angeles publishes three tiers for sales closing after June 30, 2026. Each tier is the base tax plus the ULA rate, if any.

• $5,400,000 or less: base tax only, 0.45%. No ULA.
• Over $5,400,000 and under $10,900,000: 0.45% base tax plus 4% ULA, for 4.45% in total.
• $10,900,000 or more: 0.45% base tax plus 5.5% ULA, for 5.95% in total.

Watch the exact words at each edge. A sale at exactly $5,400,000 falls in the first tier. ULA starts one dollar above it. A sale at exactly $10,900,000 falls in the top tier, because that tier begins at $10,900,000 or more.

On this site, luxury starts at about $2 million. A Los Feliz home in that range can price well below the first line or close to it. This guide focuses on the $5.4 million line for that reason.

The base tax is the City of Los Angeles transfer tax that sits under every tier. The city writes it as $2.25 for every $500 of value or fractional part. That works out to 0.45%.

The city rounds the base tax up to the next $500 of value. The ULA part has no rounding. It is a straight percentage.

Here is the base tax at a few prices below the line:

• A $2,000,000 sale: $9,000 in base tax. No ULA.
• A $4,000,000 sale: $18,000 in base tax. No ULA.
• A $5,400,000 sale: $24,300 in base tax. No ULA.

The two taxes also start from different measures of value. We cover that a little further down.

This is the part that surprises people. The ULA rate applies to the whole value of the sale, not only the part above the threshold. Crossing the line does not add a small amount of tax. It adds 4% of the entire price at once.

Here is the math under the 2026 numbers:

• $5,400,000: base tax of $24,300. No ULA. Total city tax of $24,300.
• $5,400,001: base tax of $24,302.25 plus ULA of $216,000.04. Total city tax of about $240,302.
• $5,500,000: base tax of $24,750 plus ULA of $220,000. Total city tax of $244,750.
• $5,600,000: base tax of $25,200 plus ULA of $224,000. Total city tax of $249,200.
• $5,700,000: base tax of $25,650 plus ULA of $228,000. Total city tax of $253,650.

One dollar over the line adds about $216,000 in city tax. That is why the line works like a cliff and not a slope. A price a little above $5.4 million can bring in less extra money than the new tax it triggers.

Start with a sale at exactly $5,400,000. The city tax is $24,300. The price minus the city tax is $5,375,700.

Now move the price up. Above the line, the price minus the total city tax only reaches $5,375,700 again at about $5,626,062. Call that the break-even price. Between $5,400,001 and that number, the price minus the city tax comes out lower than it does at exactly $5,400,000.

Put another way, a price has to clear the line by about $226,000 before the higher number covers the tax it triggers. Above the break-even price, each added dollar of price starts to count again.

That gap is the reason pricing near the threshold takes a plan, not a round number. Our post on pricing a Los Feliz home near the Measure ULA line goes deeper on the pricing side.

ULA and the base tax start from different numbers.

• ULA uses gross value. That includes liens and any loan the buyer assumes.
• The base tax uses net value. That leaves out an assumed loan.

If a sale includes an assumed loan, the loan counts toward the value ULA is figured on. Ask your escrow officer and CPA to run both numbers early.

A property can also sit partly inside the City of Los Angeles and partly outside it. In that case the city applies the tax in proportion to the value inside the city.

ULA applies to documents that convey real property in the City of Los Angeles. It took effect for conveyances on or after April 1, 2023. The original lines were over $5 million for the 4% tier and $10 million or greater for the 5.5% tier.

The thresholds move every year. The city adjusts them based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Chained Consumer Price Index. The 2026 figures in this guide apply to closings after June 30, 2026.

A pricing plan built on an earlier year's line can be out of date. The 2026 tiers are tied to the closing date. Our post on the Measure ULA threshold change on July 1 walks through what that timing means for a listing. We check the current figures before every pricing conversation.

The city lists these exemptions:

• Qualified affordable housing organizations (LAMC 21.9.14).
• Certain 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The organization needs an IRS determination from at least 10 years before and under $1 billion in assets.
• Public agencies.
• Transactions that are exempt from the base tax (LAMC 21.9.15).

ULA money goes to affordable housing and to resources for tenants at risk of homelessness.

For a Los Feliz home sold between two private parties, plan on ULA applying once the price crosses the line. If you think an exemption could fit your sale, confirm it with your attorney before you set a price.

Yes. Los Feliz is inside the City of Los Angeles, so a Los Feliz sale above the threshold is subject to ULA.

Where it shows up depends on the price. A $2,000,000 sale carries $9,000 in base tax. A $4,000,000 sale carries $18,000. ULA does not touch either one. It becomes part of the plan when a home could sell anywhere near $5.4 million.

If you own in Laughlin Park or the Los Feliz Hills and your home could price near the line, plan for it early. The Los Feliz Hills is this site's name for the hillside above Los Feliz Boulevard. The City's SurveyLA calls the heart of it the Los Feliz Heights Residential Historic District.

Rooster Homes is a Los Feliz, Los Angeles real estate team led by Brandon and Sarah Arlington (DRE #02051216). We check the ULA tiers against the expected closing date before we talk about a list price.

Here is the order we work through when a home could price near the threshold. It starts in the pricing step of how we sell a home.

1. Confirm the current tiers. Check the City of Los Angeles figures for the expected closing date.
2. Study the comparable sales. See where they point relative to the line.
3. Run the city tax on both sides. Figure the total at $5,400,000 and at a few prices above it.
4. Find the break-even price. Under the 2026 numbers it is about $5,626,062.
5. Pick a list price on purpose. Choose a number that makes sense with the tax in view.
6. Plan for offers near the line. Decide ahead of time how to weigh an offer just above $5.4 million against one at or below it.
7. Bring in your CPA and attorney. They apply the numbers to your own situation.

The goal is a list price that lands where you mean it to. A price that drifts over the line by a small amount can carry a large tax.

This article explains how the tax works. It is not tax or legal advice. For your own situation, talk with your CPA or attorney as well.

• Use the thresholds for your closing date. The lines change each year with the Chained CPI. Check the figures that apply when your sale closes.
• Figure ULA on the whole price. The rate applies to the full value, not only the amount over the line.
• Count an assumed loan. ULA uses gross value, so an assumed loan is part of the number.
• Compare results, not only prices. Look at the price minus the total city tax on each side of the line. Near $5.4 million, the higher price and the better result can be two different numbers.
• Treat the line as a cliff. One dollar over adds about $216,000. Set the list price with that in view.
• Keep the base tax in the math. The 0.45% base tax applies below the line too. It rounds up to the next $500 of value.

Here are three hypothetical examples. None describes a real client or a real sale.

A home priced at the line. A home in Laughlin Park has comparable sales that point to about $5.4 million. At $5,400,000, the city tax is $24,300. The listing plan sets the price with that number in view. It also decides ahead of time how to weigh offers just above it.

An offer just over the line. A home in the Los Feliz Hills receives an offer of $5,500,000. The total city tax at that price is $244,750. That is $220,450 more than at $5,400,000. The price minus the city tax comes to $5,255,250, below the $5,375,700 figure at the line.

Offers past the break-even price. A home in The Oaks draws offers well above the line. Above about $5,626,062, the price minus the total city tax passes the $5,375,700 figure at the line. ULA still applies. The higher price now more than covers it.

Rooster Homes is a Los Feliz, Los Angeles real estate team led by Brandon and Sarah Arlington (DRE #02051216). If your home could sell near $5.4 million, we will walk you through the city tax on both sides of the line with your comparable sales in front of us.

Our guide to selling a luxury home in Los Feliz covers the rest of the plan. You can also see how we sell a home, step by step.

Talk with Rooster Homes and let us know what works best for you. We will coordinate our schedule around yours.