In the original suit the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District filed against Disney, they alleged that Disney had a “fiefdom” under the old Reedy Creek setup where it “wrote the laws that governed itself, chose whether and how to enforce those laws against itself, and set its own tax rate.”
Since then, Disney filed a countersuit, and we’ve been keeping up with the latest updates. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently held a press conference that details, in his opinion, just how Reedy Creek went wrong.
The Florida governor held a press conference at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) on February 22nd, and explained, in his words, just where Disney went wrong with the now-defunct Reedy Creek Improvement District.
The district, which was replaced with the CFTOD, was accused by DeSantis of having “unbelievable and unprecedented” power. He continued, saying that Disney’s plan in setting up the district was “very devious,” and that it was “given authority that would be unconstitutional” under the current Florida constitution.
The governor went on to say that Reedy Creek was originally created to help develop a theme park and a residential community — one that he says was never developed.
When Reedy Creek was created, it included a plan to build a residential community that would maintain the municipalities through elected officials like city commissioners or even a mayor.
Of course, that didn’t happen, with Disney controlling the district through appointed Reedy Creek officials. This is what DeSantis claims is unconstitutional, arguing that the Florida legislature gave Reedy Creek too much authority at the time.
He shared that he held this press conference to “highlight an example of…positive government reform,” and “to bring an end to an anomaly of local government.”
For now, with multiple lawsuits still potentially hanging over Disney’s and DeSantis’ heads, we’ll have to wait and see how things will turn out legally. The justice system isn’t known for being a speedy one, so we’ll have to wait and see.
We’ll continue to keep an eye out for the latest updates in the DeSantis battle and more news from Disney, so stay tuned to AllEars.
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And yet he just gave Universal the exact same authority to set their own taxes for the land on and around epic universe. The difference? A $1mil donation to his now failed campaign. I hope Disney is bringing that up in the appeal. It didn’t happen in time for it to be a part of the previous case.
I’m sure Disney did not miss that