Los Angeles Urges California Appeals Court to Uphold Mansion Tax

The city of Los Angeles defended a tax on properties sold for more than $5 million, telling a California appeals court that the measure was authorized by voters and local law.

The property owners and taxpayers’ support group challenging Los Angeles’ mansion tax wrongly argue that the city charter doesn’t allow voters to approve such a tax via ballot measure, the city said May 9 in a brief filed with the California Court of Appeal, Second District. But the charter doesn’t contain any provision limiting voters’ powers in this domain, it said.

“The California Supreme Court has rejected efforts to ...