Florida lawmakers have approved legislation that turns over control of Walt Disney Co.’s special tax district in central Florida to a Senate-approved board, handing a victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had pushed to make the district more accountable to voters.
“Florida is ... beginning a new era of accountability and transparency,” said DeSantis’s spokesman, Bryan Griffin.
Griffin said the prior arrangement—in which a legislative decision in the 1960s gave Disney sole control over the district—was insufficiently accountable to Florida voters.
The special status of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, located in Osceola and Orange counties, provided self-governance to the Disney World resort. It gave Disney the power to create and enforce its own building codes and zoning laws, as well as to levy taxes and operate its own utility services.
DeSantis and Republican leaders have sought to change how Reedy Creek operates, arguing that it’s not subject to sufficient accountability and public scrutiny.
Some who have supported changes to Reedy Creek have also argued that the district’s tax collection and governmental immunity provisions aren’t in the best interest of Floridians.
With the Feb. 10 decision in the state legislature, that appeal is fast becoming a reality.
DeSantis’s pushback against Disney follows the company’s vocal backing of left-leaning political causes.
‘New Sheriff in Town’
Speaking at a Feb. 8 press conference ahead of the bill’s passage on Feb. 10, DeSantis said a big change was coming in how the district would be run.“This is obviously now going to be controlled by the state of Florida, which is no longer self-governing for them,” he said. “So, there’s a new sheriff in town, and that’s just the way it’s going to be.”
Once DeSantis signs the bill into law, the Reedy Creek Improvement District will be renamed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District within two years.
The district is being left intact, however, and so it will keep its tax benefits. This includes retaining the tax-exempt status of the district’s property.
Under the new legislation, the Florida Senate will confirm the district’s five board members, who will play no role in the day-to-day operations of Disney’s theme parks. The bill also bars anyone from serving on the board who has had ties to the theme parks over the past three years.
The district will have the power to collect revenue, settle financial obligations, and offer a variety of government services, although it will be prohibited from operating its own airport or building a stadium or nuclear power plants. It will also be subjected to additional reporting requirements.
“For more than 50 years, the Reedy Creek Improvement District has operated at the highest standards, and we appreciate all that the District has done to help our destination grow and become one of the largest economic contributors and employers in the state,” Vahle said.
“We are focused on the future and are ready to work within this new framework, and we will continue to innovate, inspire, and bring joy to the millions of guests who come to Florida to visit Walt Disney World each year.”
Some Democrats voiced opposition as the bill was being debated in the state Senate.
Controversy Over Parental Rights Bill
Disney became embroiled in controversy when it pushed back against the introduction of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill that bans discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.In March 2022, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the company’s leaders were opposed to the bill “from the outset, but we chose not to take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind-the-scenes, engaging directly with lawmakers.”
After Disney pushed to repeal the law, DeSantis said he would seek to end special privileges for the entertainment company.
“You’re a corporation based in Burbank, California, and you’re going to martial your economic might to attack the parents of my state?“ DeSantis said during an event at a local school in April 2022. ”We view that as a provocation, and we’re going to fight back against that.”
Sometime after that, Florida lawmakers approved a proposal that called for the elimination of Reedy Creek’s special status by June 1, 2023.
But that measure left open questions about Disney’s bond debt of nearly $1 billion, with the possibility that taxpayers of Osceola and Orange counties, where the district is located, might be liable.
The new legislation addresses that problem by retaining the district’s special status while giving control of how it operates to a voter-accountable board.
The legislative change also means that Disney’s bond debt will stay with the district and won’t encumber taxpayers.
