State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Disney Walks Away From Millions in Economic Incentives

Governing: Earlier this month, the Walt Disney Company presented the city of Anaheim with a surprising request: It asked the California city to terminate two agreements that provide Disney with hundreds of millions of dollars in economic assistance.

The request comes as Disney’s relationship with Anaheim has grown increasingly strained in recent years. Critics, led by Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait, a libertarian-leaning Republican businessman who was elected in 2010, have criticized the city for agreeing to a 45-year moratorium on a gate tax and a $267 million economic assistance package for a new luxury hotel in the Downtown Disney District. Tait has argued that the money should instead be used to shore up the city's bottom line.

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