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LA could be sitting on billions in property — why not use it?

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Why is LA trying to raise taxes and fees on residents while it’s sitting on potential billions in valuable property?

That’s the question raised by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, and it’s worth asking.

As The California Post reported earlier this week, the city of LA owns about 7,500 properties in town. 

The city doesn’t even know what any of it is worth.

Some of these properties are empty parcels, or parking lots. But they all have value. 

Certainly, amid all the political rhetoric about “affordability,” and the housing shortage, it would be interesting to ask what can done with these properties.

Taxing real estate transactions — which is what Measure ULA does — clearly doesn’t work. 

That tax makes “mansions” more expensive. It also makes commercial property and large apartment buildings more expensive to sell, and harder to build.

There are clearly other ways the city can raise revenue — by selling unused........

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