Voice of OC50%
Anaheim Backs Off Asking Voters to Tax Ubers & Lyfts to Disneyland 39%
By Hosam Elattar44%
7/29/2026, 10:00:00 AM
Keywords: Anaheim, Uber, Lyft, Disneyland, Tax, Rideshare, Orange County, City Council, Budget, Revenue
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Begging the Question, Negativity Bias, and Loss Aversion, with Anchoring Bias as the most egregious example at 9.3% saturation with 85 hits. Analysis detected 901 faulty-reasoning hits from 918 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 39.5% and a BS Rank of 39% (15,442 of 25,279 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 61.10% of the article peer group.
Anaheim officials will not ask voters this Fall whether they want to tax ridesharing apps for trips to local city attractions – a proposal that industry representatives criticized as a price increase for Uber and Lyft.
It comes as a host of other cities in the region ask voters to decide on a variety of different tax measures on the November ballot after a bleak budget season this summer saw elected officials across Orange County cut millions in spending to balance municipal budgets.
On Tuesday, Anaheim City Council members decided not to take a vote on placing a measure on the ballot that could have put a 10% tax on certain Uber and Lyft trips to the Disneyland resort district amid concerns it would negatively impact residents that work there.
Instead, officials are looking to explore and research the proposal further amid push back from the two most prominent rideshare companies operating in the area, with Mayor Ashleigh Aitken calling staff to find out how many resort employees use Uber and Lyft.
Councilman Carlos Leon, who is running for reelection, said in order for the resort district to be successful, employees have to be happy.
“I am concerned about this negatively affecting our residents who are workers in the resort district.
I think for someone that’s visiting, a two-dollar charge on average isn’t going to make them decide whether or not to take a rideshare,” Leon said during Tuesday’s council meeting.
“That’s my personal opinion.
I don’t think it’s going to break the bank.
But for a worker that does rely on this to get to and from work, those $2 start to add up.”
The tax was projected to generate $3.6 million in annual revenue and would have also applied to certain parts of the Platinum Triangle area – including the Honda Center, Angel Stadium and the expected OC Vibe development along the Santa Ana River and off the 57 freeway.
Nick Johnson, public policy director for Lyft, argued the tax would impact resort workers, drive up ride costs and discourage the use of rideshare apps for people to get to the city’s most popular destinations.
“Introducing a per-trip tax on top of current fares threatens to drive up commuting costs specifically for the local workforce essential to the district’s daily operations, and the tourists for whom the tax was designed,” Johnson wrote in a Tuesday letter.
Danielle Lam, a representative for Uber, criticized officials for not seeking their input, adding that with closure of the city’s transportation network many people including resort workers rely on rideshares and that they were already subject to a host of state and local fees.
“We were disappointed to see a proposal of this magnitude introduced publicly with no prior outreach to the rideshare industry,” Law wrote to council members in a Tuesday letter.
“What Anaheim is proposing is not an investment in transportation but simply raises the cost of an essential mobility option relied upon by Anaheim residents, workers, and millions of visitors alike.”
City staff said the average fee would be an additional $2 on trips if the tax was approved – an estimate representatives from the ride share apps pushed back on.
In Search of Revenue
Anaheim officials backed off the proposal about a month after they adopted their budget, having to close an over $40 million gap by pulling from reserves and using money from a parking lot sale.
City staff project next year’s deficit will eat about half of the roughly $120 million in new revenue expected to be freed up next year once the city pays off the bonds for the 1997 Disneyland Resort expansion.
Councilman Ryan Balius said the proposed tax wasn’t the right way to generate revenue and would discourage tourists.
“The resort district itself is the city’s primary economic engine that generates hundreds of millions of dollars per year for the city itself and the visitors who come here they’re already paying a high price to be here,” he said.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to keep reaching into their pockets and we ought to be doing everything we can do to kind of get people to come to Anaheim rather than giving them more reasons to think twice.”
Councilwoman Natalie Meeks, who is running for reelection, said the proposal needed more work and more questions needed to be answered before officials could move forward.
“I would like to work with Uber and Lyft and explore some more about how the other cities have implemented this, and is it working for them,” she said.
Meanwhile, local business interests – who have historically aligned – were split over the tax.
Dara Maleki, the president and CEO of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal wouldn’t impact businesses and would bring needed revenue to the city.
He also compared it to airport fees on rideshare apps.
“I don’t think it’s any different than what is charged on rides up from airports,” he said in an interview earlier this week.
“I don’t think it stopped anybody from taking an Uber from an airport.”
Amanda Walsh, vice president of government affairs for the OC Business Council, echoed concerns the proposed tax would negatively impact resort workers in a Tuesday letter to council members.
“Adding another cost to these trips runs counter to broader efforts to improve affordability and maintain Orange County’s competitiveness as a destination to live, work and visit.”
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