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Susana Barrios
From:Fernando Lopez <Fernando.Lopez.625069903@grsdelivery.com>
Sent:Friday, May 12,
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Vote Yes On The Economic Impact Study
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open
attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
Dear Councilmember Anaheim Public Comment and Mayor,
On May 16, you are slated to certify the petition to adopt an ordinance which would drastically impact hotels
throughout the City of Anaheim. The initiative claims to support workers, but in reality it will hurt local
businesses, employees, and neighborhood services.
Hotels throughout Anaheim, and especially in the Anaheim Resort area, are responsible for generating nearly
58% of the city’s general fund revenue. According to the city’s own estimate, Anaheim Resort hotels will
generate $172 million for 2022-2023. Those dollars are critical to funding Anaheim services such as parks and
recreation, maintaining and repairing roads and infrastructure, community and senior services, and the public
safety services like police and fire that Anaheim residents rely on.
The proposed regulations will be devastating for the hospitality industry in Anaheim. Preliminary estimates
suggest that the cost of housekeeping could triple or even quadruple, meaning hotels would be forced to raise
their rates to afford increased costs – smaller, family run hotels will be the most at risk. This initiative will drive
tourism out of Anaheim and residents and businesses will pay the price.
The Anaheim Convention Center is already facing intense competition from rival convention destinations like
Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas. This measure will force the Convention Center to increase operating
costs – making it more difficult to attract trade shows and conventions such as NAMM and Natural Products.
Families looking to vacation in the Anaheim Resort area will be faced with increased costs at a time when
inflation and the cost of living is skyrocketing – meaning they will be less likely to choose our city as a vacation
destination. More and more of our Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) dollars will go to Garden Grove and other
surrounding cities whose hotels are able to offer lower rates.
The Resort area is the economic engine of our city, and this measure threatens to put businesses in the area out
of commission. Developers and hoteliers will look elsewhere to invest and Anaheim will be faced with a
shortfall of business development.
This measure is dangerous and the potential impacts on our city need to be determined. As our City Council, it
is your responsibility to ensure that the potential economic impacts of this measure are thoroughly studied and
made public.
I am urging you to vote “yes” on the economic study to ensure that the city and residents are aware of how the
measure will impact our lives.
Regards,
1
Fernando Lopez
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