At an event in Sanford this morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that the state would likely take control of Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Since the Governor signed the bill dissolving Reedy Creek Improvement District last month, many questions have been raised about how dissolving the district will be achieved in practice and if any debt will be passed onto the local Orange and Osceola counties.
He said today, "The path forward is, Disney will not control its own government in the state of Florida. Disney will have to follow the same laws that every other company has to follow in the state of Florida. They will pay their share of taxes, and they will be responsible for paying the debts."
Despite his comments this morning, DeSantis has still not laid out a clear plan to dissolve Reedy Creek. He said today that his plan would be presented to the legislature after the November 2022 elections, which leaves very little time before the June 1 2023 termination date.
The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 allowed Disney the luxury of establishing its own independent government that handles many aspects of the Walt Disney World property, including emergency services, infrastructure, and construction permitting.
These latest developments follow escalating tensions between DeSantis and Disney CEO Bob Chapek regarding Disney's opposition to Florida's HB 1557, also known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill.
Disney's Bob Chapek has yet to make any public comments on the situation regarding Reedy Creek Improvement District.
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