Opportunity Knocks at Anaheim’s Door : But City Faces Tough Choices to Fund Improvements

Nobody can fault Anaheim for a failure to see the big picture. There are some serious questions about how to pay for everything the city now has on the drawing boards, but it has recognized correctly that entertainment and tourism are its meal tickets. It is confidently positioning itself for the future.

October is shaping up as an important month in this regard, and the outcome ultimately will be of great interest for the rest of Orange County. City officials are expected to lay out the details this week of financing plans for the $172-million revitalization plan designed to address urban blight around Disneyland and pave the way for an expansion of the theme park.

The plan is designed to bring in new tax revenue and encourage growth, and it will include new landscaping, burying overhead utility lines, installing wide walkways and generally making the area more attractive.

These are the kinds of improvements that can create a favorable climate for new business and growth, but the city is now going to have to pay for all this.

The city wisely has avoided tapping general funds and understood the political risk in trying to impose new residential taxes.

Having approved an environmental impact report, the city now anticipates that a large portion will be picked up by the county, state and federal governments. However, even if the money is there, it is likely that developers and property owners will be asked to pick up the remaining $63-million portion.

The city is going to have to make a case that its anticipated new revenues will be worth the investment for those being asked to pay.

The other major item on the agenda is the anticipated $60- million renovation of the Anaheim Convention Center, which city officials also will consider this month.

That plan has been billed as requiring a two-percentage-point increase in the hotel bed tax to 15%, which would put Anaheim in the top tier around the country.

In its zeal to avoid sticking residents with new taxation, the bed tax has climbed steadily upward in recent years. City Manager James Ruth wants to avoid overburdening the tourism industry, but clearly a new tax is not something everyone would be wild about.

The city is wise to recognize the asset of its convention facilities and the need to stay competitive, but it should be sure before going ahead with a bed tax increase that there is sufficient support for the new levy.

All of this is on the drawing boards with or without the addition of a new theme park, and the Walt Disney Co. has said it will not make a decision on whether to go ahead with the project for at least a year.

Anaheim is doing all that it can be expected to do to make the case for the theme park expansion, which is a good thing. As Disney reckons with change elsewhere in its empire, the city is doing what it should be doing to position itself for the future.