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Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken on April 16, 2024. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\nAnaheim voters are unlikely to decide whether Disneyland customers should pay a 3% admission tax to help patch a public budget that city staff predict could be in a deficit by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n
City Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava, whose 2022 campaign was heavily backed by Disney,\u00a0 is spearheading efforts to ask voters if they want to roll out a gate ticket tax on large venues like Disneyland \u2013 along with a parking lot tax.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really is my responsibility to ensure we have a properly funded general fund for the residents of Anaheim including the people who work for our city,\u201d Rubalcava said at Tuesday\u2019s council meeting.<\/p>\n
Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken on April 16, 2024. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said the proposal targets Disney after they just approved the Disneyland Forward theme park expansion<\/a> last year, which is expected to bring in nearly $2 billion in investments to Anaheim over the next decade.<\/p>\n She also said the city needs to diversify its revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cI just keep thinking about something my grandmother used to always say \u2013 pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered,\u201d Aitken said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubalcava said residents are being short changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe hogs have not been slaughtered. They continue to thrive in our city except for the residents,\u201d she responded.\u00a0<\/p>\n It comes after city officials grappled with a $60 million budget deficit earlier this year<\/a> \u2013 closing the gap through a mix of bonds and one-time spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n [Read: Will Anaheim Tax Disneyland to Keep the Public Budget Afloat?<\/a>]<\/p>\n While a majority of her colleagues didn\u2019t support the gate tax proposal, they voted 5-2 to bring back other revenue generating ideas at an undetermined later date including information from the gate tax proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aitken and Disney-backed Councilman Ryan Balius voted against the move.\u00a0<\/p>\n Opposition to the gate tax marked the first major split on the current city council.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rubalcava pushed back against her colleagues throughout Tuesday\u2019s debate, arguing the tax would bolster and diversify their revenue and wasn\u2019t intended to harm Disney like previous gate tax proposals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really hard for me to understand the argument that this would deter development or hurt business when it\u2019s really not a negative impact on their bottom line \u2013 a traveler coming here and spending $4,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey are focused on making sure their shareholders are taken care of and our most important shareholders are the residents of Anaheim.\u201d<\/p>\n City staff estimate the 3% gate tax combined with a 10% parking tax could produce up to $164 million annually for local coffers.<\/p>\n The Walt Disney Co. did not respond to a request for comment on the issue last week. They\u2019ve previously opposed such a tax.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a proposal previous city council members have long rejected in a town where Disney is the biggest spender on local elections.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s gate tax debate also comes a couple years after FBI agents and independent investigators separately concluded Disneyland resort interests hold undue influence over city hall.<\/p>\n [Read: Anaheim\u2019s Own Look at City Hall Finds Disneyland Resort Businesses Improperly Steer Policymaking<\/a>]<\/p>\n Councilwoman Natalie Meeks, whose 2022 campaign was heavily backed by Disney, said the resort district is already contributing significantly to Anaheim\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re paying their fair share, and now we\u2019re suggesting punishing them for that, and saying, \u2018no, you need to pay more because we need money over here for other things that you have nothing to do with,\u2019\u201d she said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThat just philosophically doesn\u2019t feel right to me,\u201d Meeks said, adding that city officials should focus on growing existing revenue like hotel stays and sales tax.<\/p>\n Currently, over $246 million or 39% of the city\u2019s general fund revenue comes from the city\u2019s hotel bed tax. The resort area accounts for about 97% of the hotel tax revenue generated in Anaheim, according to city staff.<\/p>\n City council members are expecting about $120 million in tax money to be freed up in a couple years when the city pays off the bonds from the 1997 Disneyland expansion.<\/p>\n About roughly half that money will go towards covering the city\u2019s projected budget deficit, while $65 million could be used towards<\/a> a public pool or aquatic center, addressing deferred maintenance, a new senior or community center, 10 more police officers and a fire station, according to a city staff report<\/a>.<\/p>\n City staff said while the freed up bond revenue will cover the structural budget deficit, there is a possibility that the city could face a $1 million deficit at the end of the decade, depending on labor agreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n Councilman Carlos Leon said the resort area is a lifeline to Anaheim and city officials need to come up with a plan for the freed up revenue.<\/p>\n Councilwoman Kristen Maahs, whose 2024 campaign was heavily supported by Disney, said officials should focus on diversifying their revenue streams and worried that the entertainment juggernaut would spend money on their other theme parks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the best park in the world and Disney\u2019s best asset but the reality is that they do have other places where they could invest,\u201d she said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a business, I expect they will make decisions in the best interest of their shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubalcava said Disney wasn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that we\u2019ve all come here and talked about how it would hurt business, or even fathom the fact that Disney could possibly pick up and move away is ridiculous,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe know they\u2019re not moving to Arizona. We know they\u2019re not going to limit development and I\u2019m just saying that we need to do the right thing for the residents of Anaheim.\u201d<\/p>\n Who Could Get Taxed?<\/p>\n City officials estimated a 3% admission tax on Disneyland and other large venues with a capacity of more than 20,000 people could generate between $89 million to $134 million annually for Anaheim, according to a staff report<\/a>.<\/p>\n They also estimated a 10% parking tax on privately owned or operated garages and lots with over 1,500 spaces could generate $19 million to $30 million for the city annually, according to the same report<\/a>.<\/p>\n The proposed taxes would apply to Disney\u2019s two theme parks.<\/p>\n According to the staff report<\/a>, the tax would also apply to Angel Stadium.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a catch.<\/p>\n Due to a lease agreement \u2013 scrutinized earlier this year by state auditors<\/a> \u2013 the ball club could be entitled to a reimbursement for the money collected.<\/p>\n The Honda Center<\/a> and the OC Vibe! project do not meet the 20,000 people capacity threshold.<\/p>\n Sounding Off on a Gate Tax<\/p>\n A host of members of the Anaheim Police Association<\/a> supported the proposed measure, arguing the department is understaffed by 70 officers and saying that resources are pulled from other parts of the city when major incidents happen in the resort area.<\/p>\n They also said that the city supported Disneyland\u2019s expansion 30 years ago on the promise that the taxes generated would fund world class city services but the company has not lived up to their end of the bargain.<\/p>\n Jose Duran, president of the association, said investing in public safety is paramount to Anaheim\u2019s tourist economy \u2013 one that puts strains on essential services like police.<\/p>\n \u201cMillions of visitors come to Anaheim every single day that drain \u2013 but don\u2019t contribute to \u2013 those essential city services,\u201d he said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cAnaheim is built on dreams and opportunity, but that shouldn\u2019t be limited to what happens at bigger businesses across our city and our neighborhoods deserve to thrive as well. We need cleaner parks, safer roads, stronger neighborhoods and more police officers.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoteliers as well as a representative from the state\u2019s attractions and parks association said the proposed tax would drive away tourists and in turn decrease the amount of hotel tax revenue generated in Anaheim and devastate the city\u2019s \u201ceconomic engine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe proposed measure is shortsighted and risks crippling decades of future economic growth for the entire city,\u201d said Sabrina Lockhart, executive director of California Attractions and Parks Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRaising the cost of visiting Anaheim makes other destinations like Arizona and Florida and Nevada financially attractive. While other States actively incentivize tourism and see brand new park expansions, a targeted entertainment tax here puts California at a competitive disadvantage,\u201d Lockhart said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Disneyland executives announced this Fall they would be raising their prices for most daily tickets and some annual passes.<\/p>\n Ivon Pe\u00f1a, interim co-executive director of Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development<\/a>, said the proposed measure is about reinvesting in the community and being fair to residents.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day, our communities feel the strain of a city budget stretched thin. Parks go unrepaired. Housing becomes less affordable and youth programs disappear,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll while, billion dollar entertainment corporations like Disneyland, the Honda Center and Angel Stadium benefit from city resources without paying an admission or parking tax and continue to raise prices.\u201d<\/p>\n Pe\u00f1a added money generated from the proposed tax should go towards affordable housing, parks and libraries and not \u201cexpand already oversized police budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n Over $213 million of the city\u2019s nearly $530 million general fund goes towards the police department, according to the city\u2019s budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0A4A1209.jpg\")
Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava during the Aug. 15, 2023 City Council meeting. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_0377.jpg\")
The Mickey and Friends parking structure at Disneyland is bustling with visitors for the holiday season on Monday Dec. 5, 2022. Photo Credit: AVA MCLEAN<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TheOutdoorsinOC_Anaheim_2023_March_Bothwell-1.jpg\")
People walk and take pictures at the entrance of Disneyland Park in Anaheim on Mar. 16, 2023. Credit: GIL BOTHWELL, Voice of OC<\/p>\n