The California Supreme Court has removed a ballot measure from the November 2024 ballot that would have broadened the definition of the term "tax" and required any state and local tax increases to be approved by both a two-thirds vote in the Legislature and a majority of voters. The decision was made to avoid disrupting the electoral process and the exercise of the franchise. Andrew S. Ong, a partner in Goodwin’s Intellectual Property practice and a leader of the firm’s Trade Secrets, Employee Mobility & Non-Competes group; Ariel E. Rogers, an associate in Goodwin’s Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice; Ifrah Hassan, an associate in the Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice; and Katahdin Rendino, an associate in the firm’s Litigation business unit, analyzed how a rare California Supreme Court decision to remove a ballot measure from this year’s election derailed an effort to repeal the Mansion Tax. The Mansion Tax, formally known as Measure ULA, imposes a special transfer tax (the ULA Tax) on residential and commercial real estate valued at more than $5 million. Since it took effect in Los Angeles on April 1, 2023, the Mansion Tax caused lots of uncertainty, including how property values are determined in the context of portfolio sales and whether the tax applies to transfers of interests in entities that own property in the city. To find out more about LA’s Mansion Tax, read the article in the Daily Journal California Lawyer.