While some other Orange County cities grapple with scant revenues against rising costs, Anaheim is proposing to expand its budget for the upcoming fiscal year by 8%, totaling an approximate $2.6 billion allowance for the county’s most populous city.
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Tax revenues are “ahead of budget,” city staff reports say, with the city’s tax on hotel stays — the biggest revenue driver for the city — projected to reach $253 million by the end of this fiscal year. That is a 3.8% growth over the last fiscal year.
Sales tax and property tax revenues are also ahead of earlier budget projections for this year, growing by 3.2% and 5.9%, respectively.
The city’s proposed $571.2 million general fund, the spending for day-to-day services and operations, is also up 8% from the current fiscal year, largely driven by new positions added to the police and fire departments.
About 65% of the city’s general fund usually goes toward police and fire each year.
The 2026-27 budget calls for Anaheim to have a record 431 sworn police officers and 250 firefighters and paramedics, with new hires including a deputy police chief, a fire captain, six ambulance operators and two positions to support the DisneylandForward project, which will be fully reimbursed,
The city is also accounting for the ongoing construction of a 12th fire station, a new ambulance contractor for Fire Station 4 in West Anaheim and $500,000 in improvements to the West Anaheim Police Station.
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The city is planning for an eight-figure general fund deficit, though. The structural shortfall is projected to slim from $63.9 million this fiscal year to $42.3 million in the new fiscal year.
Anaheim leaders intend to close that remaining gap by drawing on proceeds from sold city-owned properties and by dipping into its reserves.
They are expecting to soon turn that structural deficit into a surplus, when starting in 2027, more than $120 million annually will be freed up after bonds sold to expand the resort area back in the 1990s are paid off.
And long-term, multi-billion dollar investments being made around the city, including the OCVibe entertainment and residential development that promises upgrades to the Honda Center and Orange County a new downtown, and the DisneylandForward theme park expansion project, are expected to further bolster city coffers.
The Anaheim City Council is expected to vote on the final proposed budget during its meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
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