Disney links aid to voter approval of sales tax boost
By Jon Steinman
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 27, 2002
Walt Disney World pledged Wednesday to spend $1 million over five years to help sponsor a new business incubator in Orange County -- if voters approve a half-cent sales tax for schools.
That referendum, which voters will consider in September, includes a property tax relief measure for all Orange County landowners, which would save Disney at least $2.5 million a year.
Company officials say the savings the company will reap from the property tax cut will be offset by the higher amount of sales tax Disney will pay if the referendum is approved.
"We are clearly supportive of the entrepreneur center by our commitment to make this contribution," said Marilyn Waters, a Disney spokesperson. "Should the referendum not pass, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But it's not going to change the fact that we think [the entrepreneur center] is an important concept for the community."
Disney officials said their pledge is, in part, aimed at encouraging people to vote for the tax-for-schools referendum.
The $1 million for the pledge, Waters said, "is not found money."
________ Batchelor, who is leading the sales tax referendum effort, said he thought Disney's pledge was a good-faith gesture from a company that supported the half-cent sales tax increase long before property tax relief was added to the Sept. 10 referendum.
If approved, both tax changes would last 13 years -- the property tax relief is 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value.
The sales tax increase would go to the beleaguered Orange County school district to help it catch up with the community's rapid growth, which has piled students into already overstuffed classrooms.
The incubator idea was County Chairman Rich Crotty's, who has made economic diversification and increasing area wages a top priority. He hailed Disney's pledge Wednesday.
"I'm pleased that a major company has stepped up, notwithstanding the various political questions that could be raised," Crotty said. "They've taken a leadership position. How it affects their bottom line isn't as important to me as my bottom line -- which is we open the entrepreneur center."
The center could be open as soon as this fall, or as late as early January, he said.
Jon Steinman can be reached at jsteinman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6333.
Copyright © 2002, Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...062702jun27.story?coll=orl-business-headlines
By Jon Steinman
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 27, 2002
Walt Disney World pledged Wednesday to spend $1 million over five years to help sponsor a new business incubator in Orange County -- if voters approve a half-cent sales tax for schools.
That referendum, which voters will consider in September, includes a property tax relief measure for all Orange County landowners, which would save Disney at least $2.5 million a year.
Company officials say the savings the company will reap from the property tax cut will be offset by the higher amount of sales tax Disney will pay if the referendum is approved.
"We are clearly supportive of the entrepreneur center by our commitment to make this contribution," said Marilyn Waters, a Disney spokesperson. "Should the referendum not pass, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But it's not going to change the fact that we think [the entrepreneur center] is an important concept for the community."
Disney officials said their pledge is, in part, aimed at encouraging people to vote for the tax-for-schools referendum.
The $1 million for the pledge, Waters said, "is not found money."
________ Batchelor, who is leading the sales tax referendum effort, said he thought Disney's pledge was a good-faith gesture from a company that supported the half-cent sales tax increase long before property tax relief was added to the Sept. 10 referendum.
If approved, both tax changes would last 13 years -- the property tax relief is 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value.
The sales tax increase would go to the beleaguered Orange County school district to help it catch up with the community's rapid growth, which has piled students into already overstuffed classrooms.
The incubator idea was County Chairman Rich Crotty's, who has made economic diversification and increasing area wages a top priority. He hailed Disney's pledge Wednesday.
"I'm pleased that a major company has stepped up, notwithstanding the various political questions that could be raised," Crotty said. "They've taken a leadership position. How it affects their bottom line isn't as important to me as my bottom line -- which is we open the entrepreneur center."
The center could be open as soon as this fall, or as late as early January, he said.
Jon Steinman can be reached at jsteinman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6333.
Copyright © 2002, Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...062702jun27.story?coll=orl-business-headlines