Anaheim passes on rideshare tax ballot measure for Disney, sports venue trips
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A proposed tax on Uber and Lyft rides to Disneyland and nearby major sporting venues failed to gain the support needed from Anaheim City Council to appear on the November ballot.
Councilmembers on Tuesday considered the council-initiated proposal, which would have asked voters to approve a 10% tax on rideshare users heading to the Anaheim Resort and defined areas of the Platinum Triangle, anchored by the Honda Center and Angel Stadium.
The tax would average $2 per ride, according to a city staff report.
Efforts to put it on the ballot came on the heels of Anaheim adopting a budget that plugged a $45-million gap through reserves and proceeds from the sale of a city-owned parking lot.
But city officials appeared reluctant to move the ballot measure forward amid lingering questions about how the tax could impact Anaheim residents despite efforts to carve some of them out.
“I am concerned about this negatively affecting our residents who are workers in the resort district,” said Councilmember Carlos Leon. “For someone that’s visiting, a $2 charge on average isn’t going to make them decide whether or not to take a rideshare. But for a worker … those $2 start to add up, and you’re starting to look at $30 a week just to get to and from work.”
Deja Bush sued Anaheim for alleged civil rights violations that occurred when officers intervened in a contract dispute with a local dealership that reported a car sold to her as stolen. The criminal probe led to Bush’s arrest and two felony charges that were later dropped.
Anaheim retained a consulting firm to evaluate rideshares in the targeted areas.
According to a study, there are about 1.5 million rideshares to and from nonresidential areas of the Anaheim Resort annually. The estimates are lower for the Platinum Triangle, with 240,000 annual trips.
City staff concluded that a rideshare tax would generate an additional $3.6 million in annual general fund revenue while getting ahead of an expected increase of self-driving car services like Waymo, which would also be subject to the levy.
Representatives from Lyft and Uber opposed the proposed ballot measure.
“This tax hike risks driving up the cost of rides and lowering overall trip numbers in a high-demand district,” Nick Johnson, Lyft’s director of public policy, warned in a Tuesday letter to the council. “Since drivers heavily rely on event-based travel and visitors to the Platinum Triangle, a drop in rides within these zones could potentially decrease their earnings.”
Johnson also argued that half of “lost” riders turn to private cars — not public transit — and could lead to more traffic congestion.
Danielle Lam, Uber’s head of public policy for California, expressed dismay that the rideshare company only learned of the proposal 24 hours before the council meeting, especially after Anaheim Regional Transportation buses shut down in March.
“With ART gone, rideshare is an essential part of the city’s transportation infrastructure — not a convenience,” Lam wrote in a letter on the day of the council meeting. “Since services ended in March, we have absorbed a substantial share of the displaced demand. Thousands of hospitality and convention workers getting to shifts, residents reaching job and medical appointments and visitors moving between hotels and venues rely on Uber.”
State Assemblymember Avelino Valencia’s office and the Orange County Business Council also publicly opposed the tax.
City officials shied away from an exemption of Anaheim residents based on ZIP codes submitted when soliciting a rideshare as it could collide with the Dormant Commerce Clause.
Instead, city officials proposed exempting residential areas near the resort as trip starting or ending points.
Councilmember Norma Campos Kurtz raised the issue of a hotel worker using a rideshare to go home to a neighborhood just outside of the resort, like the working class community around Ponderosa Park.
“A hotel worker gets a ride to work, that’s great,” she said. “But when they get out of work at 2 a.m., and they take an Uber to their home in Ponderosa. They’re going to get taxed.”
Irvine voters will either adopt or reject a ballot measure that calls for local candidates to be ranked by preference starting in 2028. A clause prohibits the adoption if transition proves too costly.
Councilmember Ryan Balius questioned whether the projected annual revenue was enticing enough to go forward with putting the measure on the ballot without ironing out all the remaining concerns.
“Is the juice worth the squeeze?” he asked rhetorically. “Adding another tax makes us less competitive, causes fewer people to visit, stay overnight, and come back next year. We lose more than we gain.”
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken closed discussion with nobody on council wanting to call for a vote, not even those open to the idea of a rideshare tax.
Aitken pledged to continue working with the city manager’s office on addressing concerns aired during the meeting.
The tax could possibly be revisited in a year or 18 months.
