See Also: Index of all Measures

Under state law, any general tax increase must be approved by majority vote of those voting on the proposed ballot question. The proposed ordinance would also allow the City Council to enact future legislation establishing tiered TOT taxes for different categories of room rates.

Increase the transient occupancy tax on hotel rooms in Garden Grove from 10% to 13%.

Provide increased funding for general services such as police, fire protection, parks, recreation programs, traffic improvements, and other services for Garden Grove residents.

Ensure that tourists and visitors to Garden Grove help pay for the cost of these services, which they can access during their stay.

Allow the Garden Grove hotel tax to remain lower than Anaheim's, which is 15%.

Support Garden Grove's efforts to take advantage of the booming tourist and convention industries in our immediate area.

Measure H will not increase taxes, fees or charges for Garden Grove residents. The hotel tax is a tax on VISITORS, not on the residents of Garden Grove. We will keep our same tax structure, including no utility user's tax, and among the lowest property taxes in the County.

With Disneyland expanding, and the Anaheim Convention Center doubling in size, our hotels will be in greater demand than ever. It's time to use that demand to OUR advantage. This is the way the hotel expansion will benefit us.

We urge you to support continued progress in our community, and vote "YES" on Measure H.

s/Bruce A. Broadwater, Mayor of Garden Grove
s/Ho Chung, Garden Grove City Councilman
s/Bill Dalton, Garden Grove City Councilman
s/Mark Leyes, Garden Grove City Councilman
s/Mark Rosen, Garden Grove City Councilman

Shortly before the first hotel was built at Harbor and Chapman, Garden Grove hotel occupancy taxes were 6%. Now, our greedy elected officials want the voters to increase the tax to 13%.

These politicians gambled that the expansion of Disneyland would attract so many tourists that Anaheim and Disneyland wouldn't build enough hotels to accommodate the tourists. These politicians ran the redevelopment agency debt up to $150,000,000 by purchasing millions of dollars of developed property and donating the land to hotel developers. This huge tax must be repaid from Garden Grove taxes.

In 1991, Garden Grove, the State of California and the Federal government imposed record tax increases. The result was a recession that lasted six or seven years.

In the last eight years, our city council majority increased hotel occupancy taxes from 8% to 10%; they increased fees on city water (they call the taxes in lieu fees and administrative overhead) to about 20%; they annually use about $231,000 of our sewer and trash funds for other things causing Garden Grove residents to pay increased trash and sewer fees. Is there no end to the way we are being ripped off?

What do we benefit from increasing the bed tax if it causes tourists to stay at hotels with lower taxes while more Garden Grove hotels go bankrupt?

s/Taxfighter Bob Dinsen Treasurer and founder of Orange County Taxfighters, Inc.

Section 1. Municipal Code section 3.12.030, of Title 3 "Revenue and Finance" is hereby amended by replacing the existing tax of 10% on the occupancy of any hotel or other transientlodgings with a tax of 13%.

In addition, the City Council reserves the right to create exemptions from this tax increase with respect to certain classes or categories of hotels and motels or room rates as determined by future legislative action of the City Council.