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Lost Boy
11-26-2003, 07:57 PM
In today's LA Times and also on the radio today was a report that the City of Anahiem has admitted to overcharging Property Taxes for the years 1994 - 1997 and two more years when the full resort was mis-charged. The amount comes to $1.2 billion that was overcharged and will have to be given back. The reason given was that the person(s) doing the property tax analysis did not know the difference between "Rehabing" a ride as opposed to "Tearing a Ride down". Apparently this makes a difference in the property assesment.

Now, to me anyway, this raises some interesting questions.

1. How can the city of Anaheim, which is almost bankrupt at this point anyway, afford to pay back an amount this big.

2. If/when the money is paid back, whether all at once (doubtful) or peicemiel in payments, what is the Disney Studio, which runs Disneyland, going to do with it. Does it line Eisner's wallet, or go back (where it came from) to Disneyland to help fix the place up?

Thoughts?

Tony
11-26-2003, 08:12 PM
Originally posted by Lost Boy
The amount comes to $1.2 billion that was overcharged and will have to be given back.

This number seemed a little high to me, so I tracked down the story in the LA Times. For those interested, you can find it here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-disney26nov26,1,5127943.story.

The 1.2 Billion amount is the amount the county overvalued the property - not the amount of tax that was overpaid. As the Times story explains, "...the value of Disneyland Resort had been significantly overestimated over a four-year period, resulting in a tax-refund windfall of several million dollars for the amusement park."

The question about how Anaheim is going to repay the millions is still a valid question for those who follow Anaheim's financial condition. This is going to clobber their budget again. (Though, personally, I think the county should make up the difference, since the mistake was theirs.)