Every year, Walt Disney World files a flurry of lawsuits against Orange County’s Property Appraiser Office over their property taxes. One suit from 2016 has finally been resolved.

Disney Wins Property Tax Lawsuit

The case, first filed in June 2016 over their 2015 property taxes, argued Property Appraiser Rick Singh’s assessed value of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge exceeded the actual market values of the resorts and included intangible property, which is a violation of the Florida Constitution.

The judgment delivered this week sided with Disney, determining the value of Animal Kingdom Lodge to be $226,607,023 — almost $25.2 million lower than Singh’s original $251,785,581 assessment. Wilderness Lodge’s value assessment dropped to $166,976,423 — almost $18.6 million lower than the original $185,529,359 assessment. In total, that lowers the values by $43.8 million.

Though Singh’s name is still on the closed suit, he was replaced by Amy Mercado in the years since and she is now named in the suit. Other players changed, in part due to the switch from Reedy Creek Improvement District to Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in 2023.

Mercado’s office will now issue a Certificate of Correction based on the new numbers and the Tax Collector’s Office will calculate what Disney owes or should be refunded, taking other payments into account.

That potential refund doesn’t sit well with Disney Cast Member unions, however.

According to Florida Politics, Cast Members part of UNITE HERE unions are protesting and raising awareness about Disney’s property tax lawsuits, which they argue hurts public schools. Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) has set aside $119 million so far for any refunds that may be issued to Disney.

Unite Here and the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association are holding a series of town halls about the issue.

It’s not only Disney fighting their property taxes but they are one of the biggest organizations who have filed suits.

“Disney only represents about half of the large property owner litigation that has been in the courts for years,” said Tax Collector Scott Randolph. “There is another $50 million to the schools that are out there from other hotels, apartment buildings and other large commercial owners.”

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