News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium 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?

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
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.
They’d have to find some way to make up the lost revenue.
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member

Tourism is Vital to Florida's Economy…​

Tourism is a major player in Florida's economic landscape. In 2019, the leisure and hospitality industry accounted for nearly 6% of real state GDP, 14% of total employment and 15% of state sales tax collection.1

Total visitors to Florida averaged 119 million in the five years prior to 2020, with domestic travelers accounting for the bulk of this number (Chart 1). Arrivals reached a record high of 131.4 million in 2019, just prior to the pandemic, growing at an annual average rate of 5.9% over the five-year period. According to research commissioned by Visit Florida (the state's tourism marketing agency), in 2019 out-of-state visitors added $96.5 billion to Florida's economy, more than the entire GDP of 13 other states.

At a regional level, the areas most dependent on tourism are the Central region, followed by the Southeast and the Southwest. In 2019, valued added from the tourism industry was estimated at over $30 billion for the Central Florida economy with the top two employers in the region being Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort. At the county level, Orange County (encompassing Orlando) and Miami-Dade topped visitor spending in 2019 at $30.7 billion and $21.7 billion respectively (Chart 2).

 

rio

Well-Known Member
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.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
All true. The issue will be the provisions of emergency services. Those stations & equipment are owned by RCID. If it ceases to exist - not just be reconfigured - what happens to those buildings and equipment? The reason RCID can respond so quickly to emergencies is because they are right there on property. Orange County FD and ambulance services are not. Does TWDC then lease the buildings, trucks, ambulances, etc., to Orange County?
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.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium 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.

Those are the tax, not gross revenues, reported. Which is what the state needs for budgetary purposes.
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Again, that will require an amendment to the Florida Constitution proposed by the FL Legislature. They won't do it, it would be political suicide. And even if it got on the ballot, it would be overwhelmingly defeated. Retirees move to Florida, not just for the weather, but for the lack of a state income tax.

Florida Constitution prohibits a state income tax. Voters would have to approve that amendment. They won't.
Voters vote against their own self-interests all the time. People are stupid. They raise sales tax on themselves, vote for morons, etc.
Tourism and the cheap labor it employs statewide is the #1 industry in the state.
Formerly cheap labor.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Voters vote against their own self-interests all the time. People are stupid. They raise sales tax on themselves, vote for morons, etc.

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?
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
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.
You don’t think the $100billion FL collects from guests in 2019 helps so FL residents don’t have to pay state income tax? I’m pretty sure if those billions don’t come in to support FL that paying state income tax will into play.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
You don’t think the $100billion FL collects from guests in 2019 helps so FL residents don’t have to pay state income tax? I’m pretty sure if those billions don’t come in to support FL that paying state income tax will into play.

That's not what I said. You inferred that no state income tax exists because of tourism. I'm telling you that the lack of a state income tax existed prior to Florida becoming a major tourist destination....when agriculture, primarily the citrus industry...was the major source of revenue for the state.
 

SaucyBoy

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
No, it won't. Florida existed prior to WDW. It however, will need to find another source of revenue to replace what WDW generates for the state.
Oh please, you’re being so naive. Florida wouldn’t be the vacation juggernaut it is today if it wasn’t for Disney. It would be another poor southern state covered in swamp land like Mississippi or Louisiana with nothing going for it except maybe some cultural centers along either coasts.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
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.
The debt is a drop in the bucket for Disney. They were going to pay it back anyway over time with tax payments to RCID so even if the state somehow found a way to legally make them pay the bonds back it would just be a timing difference. They won’t bankrupt a business making billions to avoid paying less than a billion in debt sooner than expected.

Even a new special district not under Disney control would need to justify their expenditures and follow applicable law. They can’t just tax Disney and then use the money for other purposes. The main issue for Disney would be lack of control over quality and cost. They would no longer control fire services and EMS so the new district could decide to cut corners and have less equipment or less personnel. Same with road repairs or expansion projects. I think the zoning benefit is more hype than actual benefit. If anything Disney is following more stringent codes than what would be required by the state. It’s an easy talking point to say Disney is avoiding code and zoning regulations but it’s not really true. Just likes it’s easy to say they are not paying their fair share of taxes when in reality they pay more than most other taxpayers.
 
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