KM: “Anaheim Rapid Connection (ARC) – ARC is an essential part of the city’s planned transportation program, designed to reduce congestion on local streets and roads and facilitate the expansion of the Convention Center and resort area that receives more than 20 million annual visitors today and thousands of employees daily.”
Well, THIS quote is taken directly from the Alternatives Analysis of the ARC streetcar,
“As indicated in Tables 3.7 and 3.11, there would be several study intersections and roadway segments that would operate with unacceptable conditions (LOS E or F for intersections, LOS D, E or F for roadway segments) under the No Build scenario. These conditions would somewhat worsen with the Enhanced Bus Alternative and Streetcar Alternative, as they would result in reductions in roadway capacity which would lead to increased V/C ratios. Furthermore, both the Enhanced Bus Alternative and Streetcar Alternative would also result in additional intersections worsening to unacceptable conditions (two locations and one location, respectively)”
This is not a recent revelation. The experts have known the streetcar will be a nightmare in mixed traffic for years. In the November 12, 2009 Scoping Meeting, City staff went over the various options that had already been studied and either discarded as not suitable, or considered suitable and were being further investigated. At that meeting, the story boards offered to the public clearly showed that Traditional Buses, Streetcars, Light Rail Transit, Diesel Commuter Rail, and Personal Rapid Transit had all been reviewed and found unwanted. View the documents yourself here: http://www.anaheim.net/images/articles/4454/November12_Background_Boards.pdf
- TRADITIONAL BUS Not suitable due to operation in mixed traffic.
- STREETCAR Not suitable due to operation in mixed traffic.
- LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT Not suitable due to operation in mixed traffic.
- DIESEL MULTIPLE UNIT COMMUTER RAIL Not suitable for urban center.
- PERSONAL RAPID TRANSIT Proprietary, limited application, capacity constraints, lack of certified U.S. and CPUC standards
So if the streetcar makes traffic worse, and is not suitable in mixed traffic, WHY did it suddenly end up back on the list at all, much less as the “preferred” alternative?
Mayor Tait was TRYING to get that question answered during the October 23, 2012 Council meeting where this boondoggle was, forgive the pun, railroaded into approval on a 3 to 2 vote. Murray jumped in, excused Public Works Director Natalie Meeks from answering the Mayor’s very valid questions, and then ensured that she and her colleagues shoved this mess through like meat in a sausage grinder.
Meeting Minutes and Agendas (PRA request) of monthly updates for the Mayor and OCTA rep regarding transportation and public works projects show an alarming record of Public Works Director Meeks routinely failing to update the Mayor regarding key information on the streetcar project. A September 2012 meeting with the public went entirely without mention in the Mayor’s office, nor did she offer the Mayor a review of the information boards or other materials presented to the public. The records fail to even mention the public meeting at all, in what appears to be a deliberate attempt to keep the Mayor in the dark.
Again, when Tait attempted to hold staff accountable for the oversight during the City Council meeting, Murray ran interference for staff. If there is misinformation, it is the fault of the council majority, not the Mayor, and not the public trying to call our leaders on the carpet for their lack of truthful communication.
The LibOC interview with misguided Murray continues:
“The Anaheim resort area generates approximately 50 percent of the city’s general fund revenue and that funding is growing because of investments in the resort area and recent improvements to the Disneyland Parks. The city needs to manage that growth effectively and limit impacts on local neighborhoods. ARC and ARTIC are essential to local and regional commuter transit services.”
There is no question that Disney is an economic powerhouse of immense proportions. Since Anaheim and Disney are intertwined so completely, it stands to reason that as Disney prospers so does Anaheim. Yes?
That’s a trick question, of course. It goes hand in hand with the other question often asked by locals, “If Disney generates so much of our ‘economic engine’ why doesn’t Anaheim look much nicer than the surrounding communities who lack the benefit of all that increased tax revenue?” Indeed there are areas of Anaheim that look like a third world nation, which leads us to wonder whether tourism brings buckets o’ cash to Anaheim and it is simply misspent by leaders without a clue? Or perhaps…well, perhaps tourism doesn’t generate as much money as we have been led to believe.
The City of Anaheim’s FY 2013/14 adopted budget shows that local taxes (which include sales and use taxes, property taxes, and TOT) are expected to generate $241,569,289.00. That is a LOT of money, and it is revenue that other nearby communities are jealous of. (Yes we’re talking about you, Garden Grove!) We are often told that the Resort generates half of our General Fund money. Indeed the phrase burned forever into our brains is “5% of the City generates 50% of revenues.”
Now we all know that number is gross, not net, and the percentage is lower once we deduct a number of costs from the equation. We have bond repayments, etc. to factor into that number. But it’s still a significant chunk of change, and I think that before we continue weighing the constant demands of the Resort industry for more, more, more, we must understand precisely how much money we are talking about.
So now for a little quiz:
How much revenue does the DISNEY property generate for Anaheim’s General Fund?
Take away surrounding hotels, restaurants, etc. (yes I know they all feed off the Disney octopus, but I want to narrow this down.) Add up what you believe to be sales tax, property tax, TOT, for Disney properties, which include Disneyland, California Adventure, the hotels and the Grand Californian Vacation Club condos, calculate everything you think Le Mouse puts directly into Anaheim’s General Fund that we ultimately can use for parks, roads, libraries, etc. Then deduct what you think the bond repayment might be, and other costs that we know come along with the golden goose…and post in the comments section.
How much of the $241,569,289.00 is the direct result of Disney properties pumping our coffers full? How much do you think Disney directly benefits the City of Anaheim’s General Fund?
We will take your best guesses here in the comments section through Thursday, October 31. On Friday, November 1 you may pull up your sack of Halloween candy and check this space for the answer. The Comment that comes closest to the number, based upon the Anaheim City budget documents currently in my possession, will win some Disney collectors pins, still on their original cards. In honor of Halloween, they are Haunted Mansion-themed.
I’ll even get you started with a hint – (This comes from a letter to Disney stockholders written by Bob Iger.)
“Fiscal 2012 was an exciting year of record performance, as well as innovation and creativity, at The Walt Disney Company. For the second year in a row Disney achieved record net income, revenue, and earnings per share. In fiscal 2012, net income for our shareholders was a record $5.7 billion, an increase of 18% over last year, and revenue was a record $42.3 billion, up 3% from last year. Diluted earnings per share increased 24% to a record $3.13.”
Specifically, Iger says of Parks and Resorts;
“Parks and Resorts revenues increased 10%, or $1.1 billion, to $12.9 billion due to an increase of $1.0 billion at our domestic operations and an increase of $86 million at our international operations.
Revenue growth of 11% at our domestic operations reflected a 5% increase from higher average guest spending and a 5% increase from volume. Increased guest spending was primarily due to higher average ticket prices, food and beverage spending, and daily hotel room rates. The volume increase was driven by higher passenger cruise days from the Disney Fantasy and the Disney Dream, which launched in March 2012 and January 2011, respectively, increased attendance at our domestic parks reflecting strong growth at Disneyland Resort which benefited from the opening of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure and higher hotel occupancy from Aulani, our new hotel and vacation club resort in Hawaii, which opened in August 2011.”
That’s likely the closest you will get to a verified number for revenues, as Disney stopped splitting out their parks numbers by location several years ago. The rest of the report is online, as the Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Financial Report and Shareholder Letter. Go look it up. Hey there are collector’s pins in this for you, work for it.
Clearly I want our readers to think hard about what Disney brings to the dance, because once we have those numbers we will be discussing whether they truly deserve the enormous influence they hold at City Hall.
So what do you think? How much does the Mouse That Roared put into the General Fund, after expenses? We’ll check in on Friday.
Good luck.
Careful. You don’t want to upset Dan C. He has credibility.
I suggest that all guesses submitted should be rounded off to the nearest $10. Presuming that we get more than one guess, I’ll try to take control of the lowball side of the range by guessing: $10.
I think you need to be a little more specific about what you consider to be an “expense.”
I seem to recall one of his admirers dubbing him the Northwood Nightstalker. I don’t know the details, but it sounded pretty funny.
Guy Fawkes. An American Indian activist among other things. I miss him. But me & Greg both pissed him off for some lame reasons, and he stomped off and never did find a peace pipe.
“Northwood Nightstalker” referred to Dan’s tireless efforts to prove that Steve Choi was a carpetbagger… actually not too different from the “detective work” your and my pal Bushala did on others. Hey! We all suck! Off to the 405 forum…
Nameless, I clicked on the links, in the belief you were convincing me that Dan C is not the person I thought he was. All I see is a damn good practical joke, perpetrated on someone who clearly lost his sense of humor instead of his virginity. Living with Mom can have that effect on a guy.
I do not have to agree with everything that comes off a person’s keyboard in order to like them as people. I like Dan C. I also like Greg Diamond, Tony Bushala, and Gustavo Arellano. Under absolutely no circumstances do I ever want all of them in the same room together, but I like them all as people. When Dan does interviews I think he (usually) does a decent job of presenting info in a fair and factual manner, even if his subjects tend to lean left. I appreciate that he does not photoshop cockroach antennae on people he doesn’t like, and I respect the Hell out of the fact that he is able to support a family by writing in this economy. I also greatly value his habit of disclosing conflicts when he writes, which is why this interview with Murray confused me. Gustavo was correct in saying “This couldn’t be a softer interview if you did it with marshmallows,” and yet I take Dan’s word for it that he is not being paid. What I have come to believe however is he does have a motive beyond sharing some element of journalistic truth that the rest of us have somehow failed to report, and is using the Murray interview to continue the bitch-slapping of Mayor Tait. He may not be doing it for the money, but personal motives like attempting to put Dem wanna-be Mayoral candidate Lorri Galloway in the center seat at City Council meetings is still a conflict of sorts. Or just plain sucking up to Jordan as the future of the Democratic party could be his non-monetary motive. No matter the cause, the underhand, soft pitch, throws-like-a-girl questions he offered to the Perky One was a move I believed beneath Dan. While he may (foolishly) agree with Murray that keeping the Angels is worth any price Anaheim has to pay (convenient given he is not an Anaheim taxpayer and this giveaway will not affect the ability of his kids to play in a well kept park 10 years from now) he does know enough about other issues like the stupid streetcar to have pinned her down there, but he failed that as well.
I took the time to debunk the area of the interview that Greg Diamond tossed to me the other evening as he was recapping the interview himself. I am far from done, but decided to break down my own rebuttal into sections for easier reading.
Now Nameless (who sounds an awful lot like someone still pissed off over a prank t-shirt) since Murray’s interview was essentially nothing more than an opportunity to inflate the perceived value that the “economic engine” on Katella Avenue brings to Anaheim’s general population, let’s get back to the question I have posed to our readers. Of the local tax base numbers I shared in the article above, how much do you think comes from Disney? Murray would like us to believe that it is Disney that keeps us afloat and that their investment in their own highly profitable CarsLand and DCA fix should have us singing in the streets in grateful appreciation for their….what…for them not picking up and moving? Indeed Murray’s entire interview with Dan C is based on the premise that a minimal public benefit justifies massive public investment,and I am far more interested in hearing what you think of that style of government spending than I am in whether you appreciate Dan’s sense of humor and fashion sense.
So….Nameless, how much funding do you believe Disney properties pump into Anaheim’s General Fund after expenses? How close to that “half” Murray claims is the result of Le Mouse?
While Dan is being a total shill for the Pringle crowd, do not give Nameless any credibility either. He is part of the Art Pedroza crowd.
Pedroza actually has a crowd??
Nameless is, much like Fitzgerald and Fiala, an eccentric with lots of grudges, and the occasional interesting insight.
Disney’s revenues to Anaheim, would be hard to find beyond property tax, concession sales tax, and TOT tax, and given the City /Disney relationship have small chance of revelation beyond “sorry, confidential / proprietary” and BOE (privacy laws) will only disclose to the collector of their agent. Admissions are per the State BOE, NOT taxable since “no goods or services are transferred”, and the 199? Expansion Agreement with the City went so far as to say that “No Admissions tax shall be enacted, and should one BE enacted, the amounts collected shall be rebated to (Disney)”! So sales tax is only on the food and trinkets, not negligible, but certainly so compared to ADMISSIONS! I don’t know at the moment if this prohibition was carried forth to the Angels Disney purchase, and if so further along to the Moreno deal. BTW Many other cities use Admission tax to MLB games for stadium financing!
The A/OC-VCB website info on the Anaheim Resort lists ‘15,709 guest rooms’ from 78 hotels. Disney’s share of that may be around 2611 (3 hotels) but depending on room rate and occupancy %, TOT revenue could vary around that ratio. So any “50% from Disney” remarks would be at best innacurrate, while ALSO neglecting the impact from the Convention Center, and BOTH Stadium and Honda Center.
So let’s try and improve on putting numerical information in context-
Using data from the tables here- http://meetings.anaheimoc.org/meetings/contact/housing/about
An avg Anaheim daily rate of $147.31 x Average occupancy Rate 76.21% x 15% TOT tax x 365 days gives
$6146.50 annually per ‘average’ room – Disney has about 1/6 of the room count, perhaps higher rates could double (?) that figure to 1/3? Variation of occupancy / pricing (Disney is higher-end) could shift the estimates.Per the Budget, TOT tax is 43% of city revenues. from
http://www.anaheim.net/images/articles/467/AnaheimFY1314BudgetOverview.pdf
Sales tax (23% of City Budget) is hard to obtain unless disclosed, and usually isn’t for competitive reasons / privacy laws.That will have to remain speculative for now.
From pg 115 of the 2012 CAFR, http://www.anaheim.net/images/articles/29/AnaheimCAFR.pdf
Disney, the top Property taxpayer in Anaheim paid on $4,115,943,000 of assessed value, at I don’t know what rate, perhaps between 1-2% ?? (This excludes any property titled on other corp. names(?))They are 12.6% of total assessed value, far short of 50%, and Property tax is, per the budget summarry 26% of city revenues.
So, if that has clarified or muddied the water, perhaps explore the web links to learn more!
That’s a pretty good approach, Box.
Sales tax will probably be fairly small anyways – pins, cardboard ears, etc.
The TOT is big but open to interpretation as you have demonstrated. There are hotels and motels all over Anaheim, too, generating TOT. Even if you give Disney half that’s only 21.5% of revenue – and that’s the big driver.
The property tax issue is interesting because of how it is allocated among various taxing entities. The part that comes back to cities is pretty small, but of course Disney is a huge property. 1% of 4 billion is only $40 million
So who knows? The answer is nobody, exactly ; and that’s how you can get away with making preposterous claims.
By the way, I think we need to start deducting Anaheim’s pro rata share of all those Enterprise Zone tax credits.
Big Box, do you have a number you want to throw into the mix here? Bids close at midnight.
Sorry, think I’ll pass- I’m blank, so far, about any remaining debt payments(?) from the expansion deal, and per my posts, the sales tax part is un-knowable (unless bragged about somewhere in a trade mag, etc. ?) and further, I would guess it is reported separately by each ( and who knows how many / names? -ha-) sub-enterprise at the Park(?) – food, clothing, lodging, trinkets, etc. vs. a single ‘corporate’ figure. ( And someone else would probably have more use for the prizes!)
My BIG peeve is WHY that aggregate (so NOT confidential!) data for the ‘Resort’ and Sports Facilities Areas is NOT made easily available to taxpayers / residents via CSE Department ( which I have NOW realized is DIFFERENT (or is it?) from the Anaheim/OC ConVisBureau) in a quarterly, biennial, or annual report. MANY Cities/ regions run their Stadiums/Facilities thru a separate Authority that has this disclosure. Instead we pay (Who knows how much?) for a 13-page pamphlet, labeled “Economic Report” on the covers, whose chief Value to the Council Majority seems to be its labeled covers that can be waved in the air as justification for (blind) faith in “the experts” and as absolution for failing to perform their own comprehensions / analysis/ inquiry (Comprehensive,? no, as-is).
And , the City’s reporting, albeit GAAP compliant(?) adds MORE frustration, for instance- in the CAFR-
“The governmental activities of the City,… that are principally supported by taxes and intergovernmental revenues, include …, Public Utilities (street lighting), Convention, Sports and Entertainment (Visitor and
Convention Bureau and the Honda Center), and interest on related long-term debt. …while….
“the business-type activities of the City….(which) “are intended to recover all or a significant portion
of their costs through user fees and charges…… include the electric, water and sanitation
utilities, golf courses, and convention, sports and entertainment venues (Anaheim Convention Center, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, and The City National Grove of Anaheim) operations.
So utilities (Street Lighting) is “government”, while, “electric, water, sanitation.. are “business” So (how) are those finances separated?
And HOW IS the Honda Center, “government”, but the Conv. Center, Stadium, and Grove are “enterprise”?
Furthermore, if the “Visitor and Convention Bureau ” (vs. the Convention/Sports/Entertainment Dept.) is “government”, why does the ‘History’ tab on their website state “We are a membership organization that includes 800 partner companies.”? So can I apply for ‘membership’ to join a City department? Doubtful. http://anaheimoc.org/about/aocvcb/history
I would URGE all readers, particularly Anaheim residents, to find, (http://www.anaheim.net/images/articles/29/AnaheimCAFR.pdf) download, and start UNDERSTANDING the City’s CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report), (and get a pad for notes!) because the SOMEONE in the Audience BETTER HAVE a better understanding of FINANCIAL reality, in case those in Chambers who are SUPPOSED to, DON’T!
So Nameless is Sean Mill?
I’ll start the bidding at $2.4MM (1%).
“How much revenue does the DISNEY property generate for Anaheim’s General Fund?”
This is a great question. I took for granted that the City’s budget already included this information. I wonder if the Chapman’s School of Economics may have some data. I imagine that BBRW is revving up his search engines.
Dan C is taking the place of Cunningham in fomenting the division of the anti-corporatist forces in our city. They are both trying to discredit Mayor Tait. It is now Dan C turn’s to sell the Jordan’s Democrats, keeping the real puppet master. Pringle, off the radar. Has he written anything about Pringle? Nameless, do you know?
Here’s my guess, the answer is $40.2M
Dan, while I might sympathize with your argument even I have thicker skin than that and that’s after chemo and radiation.
Dan only sided with former GOP mayor Curt Pringle because he does not like Greg Diamond, Jason Young and Vern Nelson. How petty is that?
IF true that’s sad.
Let me clarify, I wasn’t implying that I sympathized with his “side” as far as the city of Anaheim, and sweetheart deals, or giving away public property. I can see how that might have been confused by my comment above.
There’s more than that. He really likes and identifies with wealthy businessman, and is proud to call himself a “business Democrat.” I mean, who’s against business, nobody’s against business. But he identifies with them so strongly that he swallows and parrots all their calls for more tax breaks, corporate welfare, and other considerations, making him no better, to me, than another corrupt Republican who happens to be pro-choice.
He’s a Brandman Democrat is what he is, and if he’s now gonna pretend it was all about supporting Galloway over Tait, then 1. he’s lying and 2. he doesn’t understand Galloway, or Tait, or Anaheim. She is NOT his kind of democrat.
“business Democrat.”
That’s OCBC-speak for a reliable corporate welfarist who happens to be a Democrat, a useful creature to have around when Red Counties start turning purple.
“That’s OCBC-speak for a reliable corporate welfarist who happens to be a Democrat, a useful creature to have around when Red Counties start turning purple.
OK- with commentary like that, there is little use for the likes of me around here. Keep calling strikes and balls and I’ll stay silent.
Call Dan C. “The Adult In The Room” and I’ll call Frank Zappa a great dancer…..Sorry, so more of you understand, I’ll call Michael Jackson a great songwriter”……..
My estimate, using recent revelations about the profitability of other local ‘economic engines’ as a guide: -$50,615
Alternative estimate, using a model originally pioneered by Conventions, Sports and Leisure International: $19.57 billion in direct contributions; a minimum of $45.63 billion in indirect contributions
Some comments have been removed from this post. Cynthia would like to keep it ON TOPIC and not personal, and I agree with her.
Thank you Vern, this is important, these spending decisions will dictate whether or not a cop will be on the other end of a 911 call in 10 years, and I’m not a fan of having that discussion derailed (pardon me) by those who want to bicker like junior high students. I appreciate the edit.
Bravo.
Taking inspiration from Fullerton’s downtown cash cow, which is making the city -1,000,000.00/yr, that’s my guess. Negative one million dollars per year.
For anyone interested, I broke down and Called BOE to get help using their website, They only break out by industry code (mostly retail oriented, none for ‘hotels’ or Amusement parks (see below)
From their homepage, (very bottom) click ‘legislation’ then, center column ‘research and statistics’, then from 7 categories to browse click ‘taxable sales in ca’then the year (only Q1 and Q2 from 2012(latest)) then, ‘by city-PDF’ is the smallest unit they have to get the following for Anaheim (see below) Now YOU can amaze your friends / family (if any!)
– (sorry the column tabs ALWAYS *&^% up!)
Type of business
ANAHEIM 272 lgst cities Q2 2012 Permits Taxable
transactions
Retail and Food Services
Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers 385 132,573
Home Furnishings and Appliance Stores 401 45,621
Bldg. Matrl. and Garden Equip. and Supplies 192 99,034
Food and Beverage Stores 295 43,579
Gasoline Stations 82 148,898
Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores 483 27,410
General Merchandise Stores 115 47,041
Food Services and Drinking Places 773 176,448
Other Retail Group 2,215 80,227
Total Retail and Food Services 4,941 800,832
All Other Outlets 3,486 607,227
Totals All Outlets 8,427 1,408,059
Here are the guesses so far on how much direct benefit the Disney properties put into the Anaheim General Fund (after deducting for bond repayment) with what I hope will be a discussion on whether the numbers justify the amount of weight Le Mouse throws around at City Hall these days.
Greg Diamond $10.00
Ryan Cantor $2.4 million or 1%
Carl Overmyer $40.2 million
Biff $50,615 if using formula of profitability of other enterprise businesses
$19.57 billion in direct and $45.63 in indirect contributions if calculated by the “experts” running the numbers on the Stadium.
Nipsey says Disney costs us $1million per year
And Big Box of Red Whine has given us a ton of info but I cannot discern an actual number in there that he/she believes is the result of Disney’s direct benefit to the General Fund.
Anyone else? Bidding closes at midnight, winner (and the real numbers) will be announced Friday.
Me? No damn idea, I’m a retard on such matters. Ask me about music or politicians’ quirks.
I’m going to say 5% – $12,500,000.