Credit: Steven Miller, Flickr
In September, Anaheim City Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava urged her colleagues on the council to consider a “gate tax” to help the city’s finances. However, just hours before the meeting was set to debate the issue, Rubalcava reached out to her fellow council members and asked that the issue be tabled until the October meeting.
Credit: Disney Scoop Guy screenshot X
Now, the October meeting has come and gone, and Disney has successfully squashed the gate tax. At its October meeting, the Anaheim City Council voted not to put the gate tax to a voter referendum; instead, the Council chose to postpone further discussion on the issue until “another meeting” to be held to discuss other revenue-generating possibilities.
The city of Anaheim is facing a $63 million budget shortfall for this upcoming fiscal year. Rather than institute a three percent gate tax on entertainment and theme park venues, the city is turning to bonds and the sale of a parking garage to make up the lost revenue.
Credit: Disney
The city estimated that a three percent tax on Disneyland gate revenues would have generated $83 million to $134 million annually for the city. However, that issue appears to be mute for the time being.
Disney is Anaheim’s largest employer and a significant contributor to the local economy through taxes. Disney also contributes large sums to all of the politicians on the Anaheim City Council and the mayor of Anaheim.
Credit: Anna Fox (HarshLight), Flickr
To help defeat the measure, Mayor Ashleigh Aitken wrote an Op-Ed praising Disneyland’s contribution to the city and urging the Council not to institute a gate tax.
“We can keep trying to work with our partners and work with our resort community, and work with our business leaders to attract more investment, or we can bleed them dry,” she said. “I’d rather look at us tightening our belts than doing something that, to me, is just a bit shortsighted and not in the city’s best interest.”
The city is expected to receive a tax boost next year when it pays off its 1996 bond obligations. That money was used to help Disney expand and eventually begin construction on Disney’s California Adventure.
Credit: Disney
Despite not commenting on the gate tax, Disney has opposed any tax on its tickets. In 2022, council member Jose Moreno pushed for a two percent tax on Disneyland tickets and parking. Estimates suggested at the time that a two percent tax would have generated between $55 million and $80 million for the city.
For now, a gate tax on Disneyland is dead, but it could come back at any time, unless Disney gets its way.
Do you think theme parks should charge a gate tax to help pay for local infrastructure? Let us know in the comments.