Disney will invest US$1bn in California resort if Anaheim waives gate taxes
by Tom Anstey | 26 Jun 2015
A public hearing on 7 July will discuss whether or not to extend the resort’s tax exemption
Disney is considering a US$1bn (€892m, £635m) investment into its Disneyland Resort in California, with the investment dependent on the city of Anaheim waiving tax on park admission tickets for a further 30-year period.
The ticket-tax ban could again be extended a further 15 years after that if Disney embarks on a separate US$500m (€446m, £317m) expansion.
Disneyland California currently holds tax exempt status from an agreement made with the city in 1996, but that deal expires tomorrow (30 June 2016). At present, no Disney park anywhere in the world pays admission tax.
In exchange for the tax cut, the investment would include new attractions, a parking structure with more than 5,000 vehicles and upgrade and infrastructure improvements to the Disneyland theme park and resort complex.
Disney has been investing heavily in its California operations over the last few years: in 2012, Disney’s nearby California Adventure theme park underwent a US$1bn expansion, which included the addition of Cars Land.
The company now has about 28,000 workers in Anaheim, making it the largest employer in Orange County. The US$1bn proposal would create an estimated 1,400 new jobs.
A public hearing on 7 July will discuss whether or not to extend the resort’s tax exemption, which any potential expansion is dependent on.
According to local reports, two members of Anaheim’s City Council are supporting the plans, while two others are undecided. Mayor Tom Tait, who approved the initial deal in 1996, has opposed the plans.
A recent independent study on Disneyland California suggested that resort is responsible for more than US$5.7bn (€5bn, £3.6bn) in economic activity across the south of the state.
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Disney is considering a US$1bn (€892m, £635m) investment into its Disneyland Resort in California, with the investment dependent on the city of Anaheim waiving tax on park admission tickets for a further 30-year period. The ticket-tax ban could again be extended a further 15 years after that if Disney embarks on a separate US$500m (€446m, £317m) expansion. Disneyland California currently holds tax exempt status from an agreement made with the
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