<\/p>\n
Anaheim Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava wants to start talks on an idea that\u2019s sure to set off furious debate: a new tax on tickets and parking at the city\u2019s entertainment destinations.<\/p>\n
Rubalcava on Tuesday proposed that the City Council discuss an entertainment tax at a future meeting. She wants money from a tax on ticket and parking sales in the city to bolster Anaheim\u2019s general fund that she says is in need of new revenue.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s budget is largely driven by a tax on hotel stays from the tens of millions of visitors that travel to the Disneyland Resort and nearby attractions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot continue to just depend on (the city\u2019s hotel tax),\u201d Rubalcava said. \u201cI think it\u2019s kind of time at this point for us as a elected body to review this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rubalcava did not offer exact details for what an entertainement tax would look like beyond just affecting tickets and parking. She wants the City Council to place an initiative on the November 2026 ballot to get residents to decide if they should tax the city\u2019s entertainment.<\/p>\n
She asked staff to come back with a plan at the Sept. 23 City Council for the council to debate a ballot measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have to go to our residents,\u201d Rubalcava said. \u201cI hope that this council is open to allowing our residents to weigh in on this really important ballot initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rubalcava said she has been working with the city manager and city attorney on the idea.<\/p>\n
City spokesperson Mike Lyster in a text after the meeting said there aren\u2019t exact details yet. The Angels, he said, have a parking rebate provision in their agreement with the city and OCVibe, the housing and entertainment district under develpment around the Honda Center, is not planning to charge directly for its parking garage.<\/p>\n
Disneyland officials did not immediately respond to a late-night request for comment.<\/p>\n
Anaheim has a recent history of flirting with a gate tax.<\/p>\n
The council in 2022 voted down a proposal to ask voters if they\u2019d support a 2% gate tax on the city\u2019s largest attractions like Disneyland, Angel Stadium and the Honda Center. Projections then said a gate tax could bring in $55 million to $80 million annually.<\/p>\n
The City Council in 2015 had extended a 30-year ban on a gate tax that began in the 1990s<\/a>. That was later revoked in 2018 at Disney\u2019s request, calling the agreements then \u201ca flash point for controversy and dissension in our community<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n One-day tickets to Disneyland start at $104 and, at the busiest times, can be more than $200. Estimates put the number of annual visitors to both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure at around 27 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n