Garden Grove council confirms GGTID assessments, approves $600,000 transit subsidy for hotel shuttle

The Garden Grove City Council unanimously adopted resolutions March 10 to confirm amendments to the Garden Grove Tourism Improvement District (GGTID) budget and to levy FY26‑27 assessments, approving a $600,000 allocation to support a hotel‑managed shuttle service between local hotels and Disneyland.

Assistant City Manager Ursula Luna Reynosa introduced the annual assessment process and said the assessments are the hotels’ mechanism for funding destination promotion and transportation. Greg Blodgett presented the staff report explaining that ARC transit service ends March 31 and the GGTID has developed a local backup transit plan. Blodgett told the council the FY26‑27 GGTID budget is about $1.7 million and that $600,000 of that is proposed for a shuttle program operated and managed by participating hotels.

Christina Dawson, chief operating officer of Visit Anaheim, summarized fiscal‑year tourism metrics and Garden Grove‑specific impacts. She said Garden Grove saw modest year‑over‑year growth in 2024 and that targeted digital campaigns are being tracked by ZIP code to measure local return on marketing spend. Dawson described marketing and convention sales work and noted a new visitgardengrove.com site to promote the destination.

Councilmembers asked about ridership projections and how Visit Anaheim separates advertising that results in hotel stays from general leisure travel. The PCA/operator representative told the council the service model projects about 286,000 passenger trips per year and said the combination of the $600,000 subsidy and passenger fares (the plan retains a $7-per-passenger fare) brings the operation near a projected break‑even level.

During public comment, teachers and residents urged expanded workforce development and hospitality career programs so local students can access hospitality jobs created by tourism growth. No majority protests were filed against the assessments; the city clerk reported zero protests at the close of the hearing and the council adopted the resolutions by a 7–0 vote.

The resolutions adopt the GGTID amendment enabling the shuttle funding and confirm assessments for FY26‑27. The shuttle service is structured as three routes with a base fare and a hotel‑administered operations contract; staff said construction of the program and vendor selection will proceed under the approved funding. Councilmembers requested more detailed ridership and usage projections for future reports and asked staff to continue outreach to local schools about hospitality workforce opportunities.