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Anaheim Hopes to Counter Ballot Measure on Bed Tax

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

The city’s multimillion-dollar plans to upgrade the area around Disneyland and expand the Anaheim Convention Center will be in jeopardy if a statewide ballot measure sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. is approved this November, officials said Wednesday.

The initiative calls for voters to retroactively approve all new taxes and tax increases implemented after January 1995. That would include the Anaheim hotel bed tax increase, which the City Council raised from 13% to 15%, effective last July.

Some of the money collected from that 2% increase might also be used to fund improvements related to a much-anticipated second theme park that is expected to be built next to Disneyland, city officials said.

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To avoid the possibility of losing money considered crucial to the tourism industry in Anaheim, the City Council on Tuesday voted to place a measure of its own on the same ballot. It would ask voters to ratify the most recent hotel bed tax increase and eliminate any impact from the Jarvis initiative.

Councilman Frank Feldhaus said the city would be “in big trouble” if the Jarvis initiative were to pass and the city’s measure did not.

“There is a lot of infrastructure work to be done and that work was to be financed out of that tax increment,” Feldhaus said Wednesday at the annual meeting of Westcot 2000, a community group formed to support the expansion of Disney attractions in Anaheim.

Last year, Disney shelved plans to build a $3-billion project next to Disneyland, which was to feature a second theme park called Westcot. Disney was expected to unveil plans for a scaled-down version of the project by the end of March, a target established by Disney Chairman Michael Eisner. Disney brass subsequently backed away from that date and will now say only that the announcement will come sometime this year.

Feldhaus believes one of the reasons Disney delayed its announcement is because of the ballot measure.

“They don’t want to jump the gun and have everyone be disappointed like last time,” he said.

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Disneyland spokesman Tom Brocato declined comment on the issue.

The company has been meeting with Anaheim City Manager James D. Ruth to resolve who will pay for millions in required public improvements for the proposed expansion.

Councilman Lou Lopez said it is his understanding that the Disney expansion “is a done deal. Everything is moving right along. I think something will happen in the next 30 days, that they will reveal their plans. But, it’s up to them really.”

The working title for the project is Disney’s California Adventure, and it would be constructed on the Disneyland parking lot. Sources familiar with the project say it will combine the glitz and glamour of Hollywood with California’s fun-and-sun culture.

Feldhaus told the group it is important for residents to know that the hotel bed tax is charged only to those staying in a hotel in Anaheim and has no impact on residents.

“This is not a tax on the property,” Feldhaus said.

“It’s a tax on the visitors to our city who utilize our streets. I’ve talked to the hotel operators and they have said that the tax has had no adverse increase on their business.”

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Marla Dickerson.

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