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News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
- Thread starter castlecake2.0
- Start date
Florida isn't #1 in tourism, though. That's Tennessee. $24.2B versus Florida's $11.4B.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
Florida needs to attract new industries with or without Disney. Don’t expect Florida to keep having low taxes if it took a massive hit in tourism revenue. What are you going to do with the nearly half a million Floridians that would now be unemployed?
And what does this have to do with my comment? Florida needs to attract other industry to mitigate the fluctuations of tourism. Tourism dollars come from discretionary income and thus are sensitive to economic fluctuations. With a low corporate income tax rate of 5.5% and no intangibles tax, it's attractive, tax wise, to businesses. A push to shift from a service sector based economy to other fields would improve the long term economic health of the state.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
That’s the biggest open question. Many pages back there was an extensive debate on whether the state constitution would allow it and people smarter than me quoted the relevant parts. I think the consensus conclusion is it seems very unlikely that the state could create a special district that assesses taxes on landowners but does not allow landowners on the board unless the landowners voted in favor of that setup. So if the legislature follows the governor‘s lead and attempts this it will most likely be challenged in court and most likely deemed unconstitutional. Then the play is to amend the state constitution to allow it.
Agreed. Think of the long term implications. If such an amendment passed it would essentially allow the Governor to randomly tax anyone who opposes him as a punishment any time he wants. So if your neighbors put up yard signs supporting his opponents he could create a special district that taxes your whole neighborhood arbitrarily.
Think of the impact to the larger state economy. Many businesses will not consider moving jobs or facilities to the state knowing that on a whim the Governor could just punish you with higher taxes without any justification. FL was trying to attract other industries outside of tourism and agriculture to diversify the state economy. This would be devastating to that effort. Many state leaders spent years making FL business friendly in an attempt to attract more and better jobs. All that could be reversed out over a silly political grudge.
So all that being said, should the people of FL see this for what it is and vote no, yes they should….will they….who knows. People get swept up in political talking point and culture war debates so some may vote yes because they don’t think about the real long term impact. Your faith in the population is greater than mine.
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peter11435
Well-Known Member
I don’t know where you’re pulling those numbers from but you’re incorrect. Walt Disney World itself makes more than 11.4B. In 2019, out of state visitors alone spent nearly $100 billion in Florida.
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JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Could be the difference between direct and indirect impact. Quotes would make it easier to determine
peter11435
Well-Known Member
Either way the number is way off. Florida hotel revenue alone is more than 11.4B. WDW revenue alone is more than 11.4B
Florida's major source of revenue are sales and corporate taxes. Close to 25% of the residents are retired.
Legislature will need voter approval to increase state sales tax rate of 6%. What it might do is remove some of the commodities that are exempt from sales taxes. Or attempt another go at a services tax. But that failed in the past.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
They’d have to find some way to make up the lost revenue.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
Two Years to Remember: The Impact of the Pandemic on Florida's Tourism Industry
Two Years to Remember: The Impact of the Pandemic on Florida's Tourism Industry
Depends on how punitive the taxes and special assessments levied by the state of Florida would be, assuming it was deemed constitutional. Don’t want to change your entire corporate structure to stop “wokeness”, tax rate of 50% for you. It was already 50, let’s make it 60.
Assuming Disney was forced to pay for the entire debt load of RCID as well, I could totally see Disney making the parks unprofitable and declaring bankruptcy to close them down. State of Florida’s asking for the ability to govern a company or pay punitive fines if they don’t comply, but they can’t stop them from simply not operating or existing.
Assuming Disney was forced to pay for the entire debt load of RCID as well, I could totally see Disney making the parks unprofitable and declaring bankruptcy to close them down. State of Florida’s asking for the ability to govern a company or pay punitive fines if they don’t comply, but they can’t stop them from simply not operating or existing.
That’s why FL residents pay no state income tax, thanks to tourism.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
Yeah, the logistical challenges are extensive. Even just creating a new district with a similar setup will take time. Lots of contracts to amend and other challenges. If the plan is to eliminate the district with no replacement they would need much more time. Probably several years.
On this topic I actually think if the state really believed RCID created an unfair advantage to Disney and needed to go they could have dissolved it the right way which would have been over many years. They could have worked with the local community and the counties to figure out the plan on transition. They could have worked with Disney as well to come up with a less disruptive plan. We all know this wasn’t a well thought out plan, it’s an attack attempting to punish so none of that happened. We also know that politically, the people pushing this plan are not politically concerned with Orange County so are not all that broken up over inconveniencing them.
Those are the tax, not gross revenues, reported. Which is what the state needs for budgetary purposes.
No, Floridians don't pay income tax because the Florida Constitution prohibits a state income tax. And that prohibition was in place before WDW was built.
Tony the Tigger
Well-Known Member
Voters vote against their own self-interests all the time. People are stupid. They raise sales tax on themselves, vote for morons, etc.
Formerly cheap labor.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
Then you are still incorrect. Tennessee did not collect anywhere near that much in tourism related taxes. You’re comparing apples to oranges.
Quote it
What Are The Biggest Industries In Florida?
Florida’s economy is undoubtedly one of the country's economic powerhouses. Learn about Florida's major industries in this article.www.worldatlas.com
Much of those stats are out of date.
Those increases on sales taxes were by county, not the entire state. And had to be for very specific purposes outlined in the ballot measures - schools, roads and other important infrastructure. That increase is limited by law and has an expiration. A state wide measure to impose a state sales tax won't pass. They couldn't get a services tax into law. What makes you think an income tax will pass with 60% approval?