Culver City's Transfer Tax Costs More Than LA's Until $5.4 Million, Then Far Less

A $2 million sale in Culver City owes the city $14,250 in transfer tax when it records. The same $2 million sale across the city line in Mar Vista or Palms owes the City of Los Angeles $9,000. Los Angeles' Measure ULA, often called the mansion tax, only starts above $5.4 million, so between $1.5 million and $5.4 million Culver City's tax is the larger one.

The two cities built their taxes in opposite ways. In Culver City the higher rates apply only to the slice of the price above each bracket. In Los Angeles, ULA puts its rate on the whole price once a sale crosses the line. So Culver City costs more through the middle of the market, and LA costs far more at the top. For a home anywhere near the Culver City and Mar Vista border, the price decides which city is the expensive one.

How Culver City's brackets actually work

Culver City voters approved Measure RE with 51.89% of the vote on November 3, 2020. It replaced a flat 0.45% city tax with four brackets, effective April 1, 2021. The rates are marginal. The city's own Real Property Transfer Tax page lays out the calculation one slice at a time:

A sale that closes at $1,500,001 does not suddenly owe 1.5% on everything. It owes 0.45% on the first $1,499,999 and 1.5% on the rest. Shorthand like "Culver City charges 1.5% above $1.5 million" sounds like a cliff, and the tax has none.

The first bracket matters more than it looks, because that's where ordinary Culver City houses sell. City staff data put quarterly single-family medians between $1.535 million and $1.75 million in 2024. So a typical house sale here doesn't sit under Measure RE's first threshold. It runs a few hundred thousand dollars into the 1.5% slice.

Los Angeles taxes the whole price once the line is crossed

The City of Los Angeles charges a base transfer tax of 0.45% on every sale. Measure ULA adds a separate tax on top of that. The ULA ordinance sets it as a rate "of the consideration or value," meaning the full price, once a sale passes the first threshold.

LA adjusts those thresholds every year. For transactions closing after June 30, 2026, the LA Office of Finance lists them as follows. Sales above $5,400,000 and below $10,900,000 pay 4%. Sales of $10,900,000 or more pay 5.5%.

Below $5.4 million, an LA sale owes only the 0.45% base. Above it, the bill jumps. Culver City spreads its higher rates gradually across the whole range. LA keeps the tax low for longer and then charges all of it at once.

Where the two costs cross

The table below applies each city's published formula to the same prices. These are city taxes only. The county's tax is separate and covered further down.

The $2 million figure isn't new. A 2020 Culver City News piece explaining Measure RE before the vote used the same example: $14,250 under the new brackets against $9,000 under the old flat rate. That $9,000 is also what LA's base rate produces at $2 million, because Culver City's old flat rate and LA's base rate are both 0.45%.

At $5.4 million, the gap between the cities is widest in Culver City's direction. An LA sale at exactly $5,400,000 owes $24,300 in city tax, while Culver City's formula produces $101,250. One dollar more on the LA side moves the sale into ULA, and the city tax becomes about $240,300. Culver City never has a jump like that.

Under $1.5 million, the two cities match. Between $1.5 million and $5.4 million, Culver City costs more, and the gap grows with every dollar. Above $5.4 million, LA costs far more. Every quarterly single-family median Culver City staff reported for 2024 falls in that middle range, where LA's tax is the smaller one.

The fine print that changes the math at closing

Three details on the Culver City side matter once an escrow is open.

The tax base includes existing loans. Culver City taxes the consideration or value "including the value of any lien or encumbrances remaining thereon at the time of sale." The city's page points out that many jurisdictions exclude those amounts. In an ordinary sale where the seller's loan is paid off, that changes little. In a transfer where debt stays on the property, the tax is figured on the larger number.

Either side can pay, and both are on the hook. The city says either the buyer or the seller may pay the tax. If it goes unpaid, the two are jointly and severally liable to the city. In the $1.5 million to $5.4 million range, that bill is larger in Culver City than across the line, so which party pays it is worth settling in the contract rather than assuming. Our Culver City escrow guide explains where that line item shows up.

A city form comes with every sale. Culver City requires an Application for Report of Building Records at the time of sale of any property in the city. It's also the form where a seller claims the reduced rate for qualifying transfers.

The reduced rate covers two kinds of sales. A 100% deed-restricted affordable housing transfer to a qualifying nonprofit pays a flat 0.45% at any price. So does the first sale of a property with four or more homes where at least one unit was newly built in the past five years and the construction added units. A remodel of an existing unit doesn't qualify. Owners who miss the reduction at closing can apply for a refund afterward with the city's claim form.

The county adds its own documentary transfer tax, which the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder lists at $1.10 per $1,000 for Culver City. On a $2 million sale that's another $2,200, separate from the city amounts in the table above.

Brackets written to move, posted unchanged

Culver City's brackets were designed to rise with inflation. Municipal Code §3.08.400(B) tells the City Manager to adjust the thresholds in proportion to the Consumer Price Index for Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, rounded up to the nearest $1,000. Adjustments can't happen more than once per five years after the ordinance took effect, and the thresholds can never drop below $1.5 million, $3 million and $10 million.

Five years after the April 2021 start date have now passed. The city's transfer tax page and its current municipal code still list the original $1.5 million, $3 million and $10 million brackets. LA has adjusted its ULA thresholds every year, which is why its first line now sits at $5.4 million rather than the $5 million written into the original ordinance. If Culver City posts adjusted brackets, every number in the crossover table moves slightly in sellers' favor. Until then, the posted brackets are the ones the city's formula uses.

The revenue is substantial. Total transfer tax receipts reached $9,839,673 in fiscal 2024–25 against a $4 million budget. City staff reported $5,066,327 in the first quarter of fiscal 2025–26 alone, or 84.44% of a $6 million annual budget, and credited commercial sales for the unusually strong quarter.

What state measures do and don't touch

The city classifies its transfer tax as a general tax that goes into the General Fund and can be spent on any valid municipal purpose. That label matters for Prop. 43, the statewide measure on the November 2026 ballot. It concerns the vote threshold for future local special taxes beginning January 1, 2027. CalMatters reports that it doesn't apply retroactively to existing taxes.

The bill to watch is AB 736. In June 2026, The Real Deal described it as a proposal to cap transfer tax rates, at 3% in cities including Culver City, and said its future was uncertain after a broader statewide initiative was withdrawn. A 3% cap would mainly affect Culver City's 4% bracket, which starts at $10 million.

FAQ

Does a Culver City sale just over $1.5 million pay 1.5% on the whole price? No. Only the amount above $1,499,999 is taxed at 1.5%. A $1.6 million sale owes $6,750 on the first bracket plus $1,500 on the next $100,000.

Does Measure ULA apply to Culver City homes? No. ULA is a City of Los Angeles tax on property sold within LA. Culver City has its own Measure RE brackets.

How is a Culver City multifamily sale taxed? At the standard brackets, unless it qualifies for the flat 0.45% rate as deed-restricted affordable housing or as the first sale of a qualifying newly built property with four or more units.

This post is general information about published tax rules and isn't legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how these rules apply to your own sale with a tax professional, attorney or your escrow officer.

If your price falls between $1.5 million and $5.4 million, the city line can change your closing costs by thousands of dollars. Debbie Weiss can show you how the transfer tax applies at your likely sale price, beginning with a home valuation. Let's Connect.