The Anaheim City Council has opted not to advance a proposed tourism tax ballot measure that would have imposed a 3% tax on admission tickets and a 10% tax on larger parking areas in the city.
Anaheim Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava brought up the idea in September, asking the city to explore a potential entertainment tax on tickets or parking to offset a $60 million budget deficit. She said revenue from such a tax could support affordable housing, parks, senior services, first responders, and other community programs.
The proposal would have added a 3% city tax for admission tickets to theme parks, sports, and entertainment venues. That would have impacted Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
The Honda Center would have been excluded since it has a maximum capacity of 18,000-19,000 people, depending on configuration, according to the city.
Parking structures and other parking areas with 1,500 or more spaces would have been subject to a 10% city tax on paid parking.
The proposal could have raised $108 million to $164 million annually, with the ticket tax estimated at $89 million to $134 million and the parking tax at $19 million to $30 million. The estimates exclude Angel Stadium.
However, other city council members expressed concern about creating an overreliance on visitor revenue, which already accounts for more than 60% of Anaheim’s funding for police, fire, libraries, parks, community centers, and city obligations, according to the city.
There were also concerns about the exclusion of the Honda Center and implications for a development agreement with Walt Disney Co. for Disneyland Forward.
Anaheim does not currently have a tourism tax but collects most city revenue from a tax on hotel stays, sales tax from visitors, and property tax from visitors and entertainment venues.
The city council voted 5-2 to continue the item and potentially include it in a larger discussion about revenue, budget, and potential city projects.
Since the proposal didn’t move forward with the council, another option would be for outside groups, such as labor unions, to collect thousands of valid Anaheim voter signatures to qualify a measure for the ballot.
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