The Florida legislature has officially passed a bill ending Disney’s special tax status in the state. All that’s needed now is for Governor Ron DeSantis to sign it into law and since this was his idea in the first place, I think we consider this effectively done.
As a refresher, Disney operates as its own special tax district—essentially, it is its own mini-government operating within an area called the Reedy Creek Improvement District. This set-up benefits Disney enormously but it also means that it is Disney itself, not the residents of the counties that technically house the parks, that pays for things like emergency services, infrastructure, water and sewage treatment, etc.
While DeSantis and other Florida Republicans obviously pushed this bill through as a way to retaliate against Disney’s (reluctant but eventual) criticism of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation essentially barring educators from even mentioning LGBTQ+ issues in schools, the people who will end up paying the real price here are Florida taxpayers, who had no say whatsoever in this massive change. This move is likely to cost Floridians over $1 billion in municipal debt.
As Orlando reporter Nick Papantonis says in a great thread breaking down the effects of this change, “The biggest loss for Disney is the end of that control. It’s a lot easier to ask yourself for permission than to go to the county. While they already follow all laws and building codes and they’ll still get everything they want, it’s going to slow the process down.”
Yes, that’s inconvenient for Disney but the effects of this change are extremely uneven. “The bigger issue for everyone else is the tax revenue. Disney already pays the same local property taxes as every other landowner. Reedy Creek added its own tax on top of that to pay for its projects. That tax – $163 million per year – is illegal outside of the district,” Papantonis explains.
The surrounding counties—Orange and Osceola—will now be responsible for Disney’s services as well as its debt. “They can’t raise sales taxes or impact fees. So, the counties will have to raise property taxes,” Papantonis writes. “They must tax every property equally – not just Disney – and therefore it’s expected that property taxes in Orange County will rise as much as 25% next June.”
The Washington Post writes about the chaos this is causing:
“People are definitely worried. This is going to be a major disrupter in our community, and nobody has had the chance to figure out exactly what that will look like,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani (D), whose district includes parts of Orange County, where most of the Disney property in Florida is located. “Everything about this reflects the fact that we have a governor who is a bully who punishes those that oppose him.”
In short: Ron DeSantis doesn’t want kids learning that gay and trans people exist; he got angry when Disney’s CEO was pushed to condemn that fact; and in retaliation, he’s causing his constituents’ taxes to potentially skyrocket.
It should be noted that this law will not take effect until June of 2023, hopefully still giving lawmakers time to undo this mess. But for now, way to go, Ron. You sure did own those libs at the expense of everyone in your state.
(image: Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
