And so we suddenly find ourselves in an Anaheim where:

Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava, on whom Disney has spent hundreds of thousands to elect and keep in office, Natalie who came from the OC Business Council which always opposed anything that would discomfit the Mouse, has proposed a GATE TAX (and parking tax) on the town’s big entertainment venues – the Holy Grail of Anaheim’s good-government progressives for literally DECADES, and ALWAYS crushed by Disney.

WHILE the Mayor, Ashleigh Aitken, elected WITHOUT Disney money (though reportedly with an agreement Disney wouldn’t back her opponents), Ashleigh who’s also long been an ally of Natalie, blindsided her this morning with a Register column fiercely opposing the proposal, a column that looks like it coulda been written by Disney flacks. The day before the big vote!

Maybe campaign contributions DON’T always explain the votes and proposals of politicians, not all of ’em all the time anyway. Every time a Gate Tax has come up, going back to 1960, Disney has pulled out all its biggest guns to defeat it, bitching laughably that the slightly higher prices would make them lose customers (while constantly raising prices anyway.)

Are we seeing a schism on Council, between these two old allies? Or are we being distracted by Kabuki? Natalie seems very serious about the Gate Tax, and gobsmacked and irritated at Ashleigh’s surprise attack, an attack that’s target-rich with hogwash.

The Gate Tourism Tax

But where’s my manners!? The reader may not have been following this issue for years like me. The idea of a Gate Tax, which EVERY city that depends on tourist attractions has except for Anaheim, is that the tourist will pay a small percentage on top of each ticket and that goes to the host City for things it desperately needs. And here in debt-ridden Anaheim, there are lots of things we desperately need, while the Disneyland resort makes $18 million a day of which we only see a tiny portion (sales tax.)

Natalie is calling her new proposal a “Tourism Tax,” of 3% on tickets to any venue with 20,000 attendees (more on that below). And she’s pairing it with a 10% paid-parking tax, on privately owned lots with 1500 or more spaces. Here is the staff report which’ll answer a lot of your questions. Together those two taxes if passed should bring in $100 to $160 million a year, for the many things Anaheim needs.

I’m told now that tonight is only a discussion on these important items, but both taxes will need to be passed by a majority of Anaheim voters at the November 2026 general election – and BEFORE THAT, it’ll have to be put onto the ballot by FIVE of the seven Councilmembers – and it already looks like we don’t have Mayor Ashleigh. I support this “Tourism Tax,” but I’ve got a couple of strong suggestions, which should make it better and fairer, more likely to pass next year, and more likely to get five votes on the Council next month:

1. Exempt Anaheim Residents!

This should be a no-brainer. Ashleigh’s attack piece, which’ll be the first of a year’s worth to come, relies heavily on the badness of further taxing Anaheim’s put-upon masses. There’s both justice and practicality in figuring out a way to exempt the locals from this:

• JUSTICE. We are the ones who put up with all Disneyland’s “negative externalities” day after night, year after decade. The noise! The traffic! The nightly fireworks polluting our water and air, and terrorizing our dogs! The crowds of outsiders some of ’em sketchy! The insufficient housing for Disney’s employees (especially after D. Forward kicks in.)  We Anaheim taxpayers have subsidized Disney over the decades and are still paying off the bond to build the Mickey & Friends garage in the 90’s.  And when we voted 7 years ago with Measure L to make Disney pay a living wage, they fought us in court for 5 years, and are finally JUST NOW starting to pay what’s owed – to underpaid folks in our town, some of whom still work there some not.  SO it’s FAIR for us not to have to pay that “Tourism Tax.”  We are not tourists!

• And PRACTICALLY, assuming a Council that puts this on the ballot wants it to win and not just waste 30k having an election, Anaheim voters would be much more likely to approve a tax THEY didn’t have to pay!

Last time we tried to get a Gate Tax, maybe 2019, Councilman Jose Moreno worked with Attorney Fabela to figure out a way to exempt Anaheim residents, and Fabela came up with a REBATE on the UTILITIES BILLS of residents who paid the taxes. Kind of convoluted, but whatever. Can’t attendees just show that they live in town and not have to pay the 3%?

2. Attendance floor of 20,000?

Make it 10,000.

Mayor Ashleigh points out that ONLY CHARGING the tourism tax at venues of 20k and over means only charging it at Disneyland, California Adventure, and the Angel Stadium … and whether we can actually charge it at the latter is still up in the air for complicated boring reasons you’ll see in the staff report. Which leaves only Disney theme parks. (Ashleigh even uses the Republican catchphrase “picking winners and losers,” hoping to sway Republican ideologues.) Quoth Ashleigh:

“As written, the entertainment tax proposal doesn’t appear to include Honda Center, home of Ducks hockey, concerts and more… That leaves just our theme parks. Regardless of whether you think Disney should pay more or not, a tax targeting one payor is unlikely to hold up under California law.”

Is that so? Well, I say to Natalie, 20k seems arbitrary, why not make it 10k? That would swoop up the Honda Center and not much else (no little moms and pops!) The prolific author “A. I. Overview” holds that:

“The Honda Center has a seating capacity that varies by event, with a maximum of 18,336 for basketball and 17,174 for ice hockey. Averages show up to 153 events per year with an average attendance of 11,264 people per event.”

Natalie responds to Ashleigh’s threats of a Disney suit, “So what, they’re gonna sue no matter what we do. And they’ll lose. Just like with Measure L!” And I respond, “Yeah, but THAT took seven years. I think, make it 10,000 and up or it’ll look like favoritism and Disney-Hate.”

And…

Let the People Vote.

‘Swhat it comes down to, once again. Just like in 2012 when we demanded to Let the People Vote on large hotel subsidies. Just like in 2012 to 16 when we demanded Let the People Vote on district elections. Just like every time we tried to get a Gate Tax, LET THE PEOPLE VOTE. I can’t believe Mayor Ashleigh Aitken WANTS TO STOP THE PEOPLE FROM VOTING ON THIS! Does she not trust our judgment? For shame! Think again, Mayor Ashleigh!

There’s a lot more to say. A lot of arguments to be made in favor of the Gate Tourism Tax. A lot more rebuttals to Ashleigh’s piece, which I’ll be writing in the Register. But this’ll be going on for either another month or another year, so I’ll leave it at this, and see you all tonight!