Ron DeSantis continues to repeat the claim that Disney doesn't want to pay taxes and receives favorable treatment

Apr 27, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California

Posted: Thursday April 27, 2023 11:40am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has today responded to Disney filing a major lawsuit against him and the entire board of his hand-picked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Following the same pattern of behavior that the Florida Governor has exhibited in his attacks on Disney over the last year, he repeated claims that Disney doesn't follow the same rules as everyone else and is put on a pedestal.

DeSantis frequently talks about Disney not paying its fair share of taxes and how that will change under his new oversight district. Disney points out that in 2022, it paid $1.146 billion in state and local taxes, making the Walt Disney Company the largest single taxpayer in Central Florida.

Ron DeSantis at Reedy Creek Improvement District

Speaking to media during a visit to Israel, DeSantis said, "They're upset because they're having to live by the same rules as everybody else. They don't want to pay the same taxes as everybody else and they want to be able to control things without proper oversight. The days of putting one company on a pedestal with no accountability are over in the state of Florida."

Disney claims in its lawsuit filed in a federal court yesterday that there has been "A targeted campaign of government retaliation-orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney's protected speech-now threatens Disney's business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights."

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Charlie The Chatbox Ghost12 days ago

Thanks for the clarification!

lazyboy97o12 days ago

The district has not yet changed what requires development review. They made themselves the planning board. The threat is that they can change the development requirements to require more review which gives them significant latitude to interfere with projects. Universal now has two special districts, one for each campus. Reedy Creek Improvement District was unique which is part of how and why it was targeted. The districts that encompass Universal Orlando Resort were created by Orlando and Orange County, not directly by the state. They also don’t have the same type of structure or powers.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost12 days ago

Agh, I used the wrong wording again, I was thinking “county” when I said district. I have no clue why I keep mixing up words, but I do it a lot haha. I think we’re on the same page here, minus my repeated mix up of terms. The deal as originally penned would’ve been worse off for everyone involved except DeSantis, and the deal as it ended up is slightly better but still not perfect. There was no reason to destroy RCID except for DeSantis wanting to win the MAGA/anti-“woke” base for the 2024 election- it was a fake culture war PR stunt, essentially. “Look, I’m gonna attack the company that stopped donating to our anti-LGBTQ bill only after they were caught donating in the first place! Please vote for me!” DeSantis didn’t even come close to winning the election in the end, nor did he secure a place in the administration (Trump even dislikes DeSantis iirc) so even he lost what he was setting out to do. Universal has a special district too, right? I know there’s a few other than Disney that haven’t been touched since they’ve either kept their heads down or are openly supporting DeSantis and his policies.

LAKid5312 days ago

There are no neighboring "districts". The 40 some odd square miles reside within both Orange and Osceola Counties. Neither county wanted to assume the burden...nor did we taxpayers (property owners). One reason the first bill abolishing the district had to be repealed and another bill renaming the district & changing the operating structure was passed. Abolishing the district also impacted the outstanding bonds and would have put taxpayers, not TWDC, on the hook for repayment - a portion of the district's assessment repays the bonds. And it would have been ALL taxpayers, not just those of us in Orange & Osceola counties. Duke would have picked up supplying electricity to the property. Orange County would have covered waste, water & sewage....part of which is paid by property taxes. The taxpayers of the state paid the state's legal bills. Which taxpayers always pay. And by tax payers I mean both state residents and the 120 million who visit the state every year...the tax is state sales tax. As I said, it wasn't broken and both Orange & Osceola counties benefited from the relationship. Neither county was responsible for providing services but both received funding via property taxes paid by TWDC. Which the company every year disputed the amount.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost13 days ago

Yeah, this is what I had meant when I said "taxpayer funding", like your average person's taxes going to it and not just Disney's taxes. That's what I thought the original plan was, essentially making Disney's land and therefore utilities a part of the neighboring districts through dissolving Reedy Creek, but obviously that didn't happen and now it's just Reedy Creek with governmental red tape. Either way, all the legal stuff wasted taxpayer money in the end! We'll see what happens in the future I guess. If DeSantis's appointees didn't shoot down Tropical Americas for being "woke" or whatever then I doubt they're really playing much into the manufactured culture war anymore.

LAKid5313 days ago

Disney IS a taxpayer as the taxes being paid are property taxes and it's the largest taxpayer in the district. It's also paying taxes to both Orange & Osceola counties. The special district still exists. It's just not "constructed" in the same manner as before, i.e., residents of the district elect supervisory board members. Nor does Disney have as much control over projects as before. I've said it before....it wasn't broken, there was no need to fix it. And in the process of trying to fix something NOT broken, taxpayer monies were wasted....and I mean ALL Floridians.

JoeCamel13 days ago

Disney IS the taxpayer.......

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost13 days ago

ah, my bad, for some reason I misremembered the terms of the deal. I thought the big thing about it was taxpayer funding instead of Disney funding. Yeah, that final deal sounds bad for Disney then. I guess they’re gonna have to keep their nose down for awhile Still BS that all the other special districts exist but Disneys doesn’t

lazyboy97o13 days ago

The funding sources of the district didn’t change. Development approval processes weren’t changed but that threat remains available if Disney steps too far out of line. What makes it a better deal? Disney now has no say whatever happens. They fund everything but are entirely dependent on a governing body with almost no accountability.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost13 days ago

I mean I guess technically, though I thought the new replacement for Reedy Creek is essentially the same as the old one but now Disney doesn’t fund it entirely themselves anymore? Minus having to get approval for things (which at this rate it seems like they’ll approve anything) it’s a better deal for Disney. At least until they’re a conservative target again, then they’ll likely go hard on Disney to get some voter brownie points lol

Tha Realest13 days ago

While there appears to be an implicit detenté right now between Disney and Florida, that can always change much more to Disney’s detriment than the state’s.