Tensions are still high in Florida surrounding The Walt Disney Company and the star government due to Disney’s condemnation of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Governor Ron DeSantis and other Florida politicians moved to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is the governing body that basically lets Disney World function as its own government. There has been a lot of back and forth between Disney, the Florida government, and local taxpayers, and now, we’ve got an update on the current situation for you.
The Reedy Creek district dissolution is supposed to happen by June of 2023, and the concern about who is going to cover Disney’s debts and costs has caused some people to take legal action.
Now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, along with two other state departments, are asking for a lawsuit to be dismissed that names them concerning the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
On August 19th, the state of Florida filed to dismiss the case, which was originally filed in May by Osceola County residents Michael, Leslie, and Eduardo Foronda, as well as Orange County resident Vivian Gonzalez. The lawsuit was filed over the alleged possibility that taxes could increase with the dissolution of the Reedy Creek district.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District is essentially the government for the land where Walt Disney World is located. It has almost $1 billion in bond obligations and there was concern over whether that burden would fall on local taxpayers.
The motion to dismiss the case says, “Plaintiffs have no legal right to prohibit the State of Florida from dissolving governmental entities created by state law. Yet Plaintiffs’ premature, scattershot complaint attempts to do just that; it challenges the legality of SB 4-C, a facially neutral general law that uniformly dissolves certain pre-1968 independent special districts effective June 1, 2023, based solely on speculative injuries that are completely disconnected from any cause of action.”
The original case was also filed in Miami-Dade County, so the motion also mentions that the case should be dismissed since this isn’t the proper location for the case, or be transferred to Leon County, where the state capital of Tallahassee is located.
The state also said that the dissolution of the Reedy Creek district would not infringe on taxpayers’ rights to due process causing a tax increase for local taxpayers, saying “Yet, no tax increase related to SB 4-C has been proposed or imposed on plaintiffs. Their complaint utterly fails to identify sufficient ultimate facts showing how the potential dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District pursuant to state law — assuming such dissolution were to occur — could plausibly infringe on their rights as taxpayers.”
So, that’s what’s going on as of right now. To learn more about the situation, you can click here to see everything you need to know about how Disney World functions as its own government, along with the latest on what will likely happen next.
Stay tuned to All Ears for more news and updates.
Here’s How Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District Could Be Re-Established
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There’s the $1 Billion bond debt. There’s also the cost of proving services (fire, rescue, power, roads, etc) about $100 Million yearly, currently paid by Disney, but now going to be paid by the county taxpayers.
But then taxpayers are already paying the expenses for Universal and the other theme parks.