ANAHEIM : Council to Vote on Utility-Users Tax

The City Council is expected to vote today on a utility-users tax that it hopes will help offset the city’s $10-million budget shortfall for the fiscal year starting July 1.

The council will discuss whether the utility tax rate should be 3% or 4%. The tax would apply to all households and businesses using electricity, gas and telephones in the city. The City Council is also scheduled to consider extending the tax to cable television subscribers.

If a 3% tax is approved, it will cost the average household about $5.23 extra each month.

The council, facing the lowest sales-tax revenues in a decade, has been considering a new tax to raise funds for the city. It had discussed four other taxes--an admission tax at movie theaters, Disneyland, Anaheim Stadium and the convention center; a room-occupancy tax on hotel rooms; a parking tax affecting city parking facilities; and a property-transfer tax charged to those buying and selling land in the city.

The utility tax is expected to bring in about $10 million if the 3% charge is adopted, and slightly more if a higher tax is approved.

Anaheim had been expected to be about $20 million in debt this coming fiscal year, the city but cut that budget shortfall in half by freezing unfilled employee positions and making operational budget cuts in all city departments.