Yesterday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a special session of the Florida Legislature and introduced a bill to get rid of districts that were established prior to November 1968, targeting the Reedy Creek Improvement District established around Walt Disney World Resort in 1967. More details are now emerging about what would happen if DeSantis was able to get rid of the district.
Mary Ellen Klas, Capitol Bureau Chief of the Miami Herald, tweeted a thread about the district and bill last night amid the senate session. The Walt Disney Company owes approximately $2 billion in debt, which would be transferred to “general purpose government,” State Senator Jennifer Bradley said. This means it would likely go to the residents of Orange County and Osceola County, assessed at $2,200 per family.
Klas tweeted that when asked if the 1.7 million residents of these counties should be asked if they want to assume the debt, Senator Bradley avoided an answer.
Klas quoted Senator Jeff Brandes, who said, “My concern is this bill essentially wipes away Disney’s $2 billion of debt…if the legislative intent here is ultimately to attack them, then why would we want to cancel $2 billion of debt?”
In a separate thread, Klas quoted Senator Linda Stewart, whose district includes Walt Disney World. Stewart has spoken with Disney executives and concluded that the Legislature cannot dissolve the district without the approval of district voters, going on to say, “And since most of the residential landowners are all Disney employees, I don’t think that they’re going to want it dissolved.”
DeSantis had previously said he was “receptive” to repealing the act that created the district around Walt Disney World. He has been targeting the company’s “special privileges” ever since they took a hard stance against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The self-described purpose of the Reedy Creek Improvement District is “to support and administer certain aspects of the economic development and tourism within District boundaries.” The creation of the district means Walt Disney World and other landowners pay for local essential services like water, electricity, fire protection, and emergency medical services instead of taxpayers.
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Either way, Disney comes off as the bad guys. Way to go, Chapek
Now I can’t tell if this is good or bad anymore.
This website was so eager to get rid of Chapek for his (admittedly) poor decisions, that it amplified an activism campaign against him. And now there could be political actions taken against Disney that will have a negative impact on the Parks. This is the law of unintended consequences. Stick to reporting, not activism.
The consequences of news are what they are. We have to report what we have to report. What people do with it is their decision.
The land is owned by Disney. The land is used by Disney. Levy appropriate taxes on the resort and there’s no problem. Disney still pays for their infrastructure, they just don’t get to bypass oversight.
I’m not quite sure how a population of 53 people in the 2020 census can accumulate almost 2 trillion in debt. 57 million of that was supposed to be for low cost housing in the 1990 and it did not. This money is tax free bonds from the state Florida funds. I’m not sure why we should keep allowing more debt incurred. This won’t go away but just get worse if not stopped now.