Both chambers in the Florida government have now voted for Disney’s one-of-a-kind municipality to be dissolved, thus ending Disney’s self-governance. As Republican passed the legislation, it is said that Democrats could be heard shouting in protest. Given that Disney and Democrats are on the same side over issues of the past month, it defies common sense to think that news accounts of how this will unload $1-2 billion of debt from Disney can be true. If that were the case, Disney might be jumping for joy. With both the Senate and House giving their approval, the law now goes to Governor DeSantis for ratification.
The bill passed by the legislature on Thursday would eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar districts by June 2023. The measure does allow for the districts to be reestablished, leaving an avenue to renegotiate its future. It now moves to DeSantis’ office to be signed into law.
Whereas a huge number of outlets are stating that Disney’s debt would be distributed to surrounding counties, that does not appear to be true. Searching for the source of this rumor seems to be a Democrat tax analyst who may have had political reason for such a conclusion. In reality, two pseudo-cities owned and operated by Disney subsidiaries would likely take on the all the debt given that they run the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The result of such a change for the City of Bay Lake and the City of Lake Buena Vista could be devastating for Disney.
From Florida Politics linked in the prior paragraph:
“The real powers were given to Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista,” said Florida historian and political scientist Rick Foglesong, author of a seminal book on Disney and Florida politics, “Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando.”
Foglesong wondered if the Legislature might amend the bills to address Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista’s ultimate authority over land use, planning and inspections.
If they don’t contract with Reedy Creek to provide services, those two cities would have to contract with someone else, presumably Orange County (and Osceola County for a small portion of the property), he said. That would still leave Disney in charge of much of its own destiny.
Without Reedy Creek as a municipality governed by two pseudo-cities (populations of less than fifty in both with no non-Disney landowners), estimates for how much in taxes would be prevented from Disney’s collection run somewhere around $200 million per year. Those taxes would then go to the counties in which Disney resides. Over the course of one-hundred years, Disney would lose $20 billion just in terms of today’s money without considering inflation. That’s just the beginning of the troubles Disney could face and is likely the reason for so much disinformation in the press and the punditry.
Dissolving Reedy Creek will not be easy for Florida, however, and it is likely to go through the court system for years. If Disney were to lose it would be a devastating blow and Florida might argue that both the cities inside Disney are based on fraud in order to dissolve all of it. That would effectively ruin Disney’s self-governance and could have incalculable costs.
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Update 3:24 PM EST, 4/21/2022:
Independent journalist Andy Ngo has released video and audio of yelling taking place as the Florida House voted to revoke Disney’s self-governance powers:
Democrats in the Florida House of Representatives can be heard yelling & shrieking after lawmakers voted to remove Disney’s special tax status—a privilege it held for 55 years. Disney employs 38 lobbyists in Tallahassee & donates generously to politicians. pic.twitter.com/ak7rBbB2vw
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 21, 2022
Editor’s Note (added 4/22/2022 1:25 PM EST): As some have noted, not all the yelling may have been about Disney in the video. Some of the shouts were directed at a redistricting concern. The shriek as the Disney-related law passed is hard to ignore however, and so we cannot verify which yells and noises are about the redistricting versus yells and noises about Disney. All of it seems to be very chaotic. For a more detailed explanation of Florida politics at the moment, see the comments section and various viewpoints.
