He did! I heard he wants to spend more time with his family!“Resigned”
He did! I heard he wants to spend more time with his family!“Resigned”
Finally some thing we can agree on.Tribalism…unleashed by morons.
Totally agree. If I had to guess, this will be how it plays out.That’s the best way to always be right
At the end of all of this it seems highly unlikely to me that it will be tolerated that a bunch of Orange and Osceola County taxpayers end up footing the bill for municipal bonds used to pay for stuff at Disney World. It’s also highly unlikely that Disney just agrees to pay off the bonds (there’s no legal way to make them do it) and may not even be possible as some of the bonds have a clause that prohibits early redemption. The only viable solution I can see is to allow RCID to continue and/or be replaced with a similar district. Disney and the state or local counties would need to agree, but that’s a win/win for everyone.
I am referring to my uninformed unconfirmed information thank you.@peter11435 is certainly not uninformed.
That’s a valid point. The county would need to get a little creative then. So right now property taxes go to roads and schools and emergency services and other general expenses. If Orange County had to absorb a portion of the RCID bonds and they had to use property taxes to pay them down then their only choices are to raise taxes on all property owners or cut services. A third option would be to stop funding part of the existing services with property tax revenues and instead use hotel taxes. Many places use hotel tax revenues for roads or other specific projects. I assume it’s technically legal and doable.In reality, hotel tax revenues cannot be the source of repayment even though it is a type of tax. The reason for that is because a very specific type of tax was pledged - property tax revenues. Hotel tax revenues are susceptible to economic downturn. Even if the economy tanks and housing values decline, the amount of property taxes levied doesn't decrease uess the taxing authority chooses to lower them (and they are obligated to levy enough taxes to pay the debt). If they switch the source of repayment then they are shifting the risk and increasing the odds of defaulting on the debt.
I honestly don't understand why some posters keep grasping at these straws when the suggestions are impossible. It's like people (not you) are rooting for Disney to lose and are trying to come up with ways to make it okay. The ad valorem tax bonds can only be paid with property tax revenues. The utility revenue bonds can only be paid with utility revenues. Anything else is a breach of the terms of the bonds.
This exactlyThe use of the Tourist taxes is highly restricted by state regulation specifically defining how much can be used for what purpose. This was done specifically to prevent communities from using it as a piggy bank for other purposes.
TDT FAQs
www.occompt.com
Look specifically at- How is the Tourist Development Tax used?
which is why this entire thread existsMoney talks
It should have been figured out before legislation was passed. Lawyers are being paid tons of money because this was done without forethought and based on a complete misunderstanding of the situation.But I don't believe in the "stick the tax payers of orange / Osceola with the bonds" theory.
Granted I'm no lawyer, but I'm sure there ARE lawyers on both sides, being paid TONS of money right now to figure that out.
The money goes towards things like sports stadiums and convention centers. How much money did the Super Bowl in Tampa bring in for the local economy? This is from the Orange County Convention Center website:I question if those money's, as used to draw folks to Florida.. Really are needed to do that. I mean, look EVERYONE knows Florida has beaches and theme parks. Is that something that needs to be advertised anymore, people would come anyways.
The point I was making, as GoofGoof points out, is that.. creatively some of these costs could be mitigated. Is it a long shot?
Yes.. no doubt..100% it's that crazy.
But I don't believe in the "stick the tax payers of orange / Osceola with the bonds" theory.
Granted I'm no lawyer, but I'm sure there ARE lawyers on both sides, being paid TONS of money right now to figure that out.
Politicians are good at shuffling money around though, one of the selling points of legalizing MJ here was the taxes were designated to go to our struggling schools, which they do, but after they added the new MJ taxes the politicians then “reallocated” other non-MJ funds away from the schools to other projects.The use of the Tourist taxes is highly restricted by state regulation specifically defining how much can be used for what purpose. This was done specifically to prevent communities from using it as a piggy bank for other purposes.
TDT FAQs
www.occompt.com
Look specifically at- How is the Tourist Development Tax used?
I agree. I think a ticket tax/increased hotel occupancy fees is how the state will propose to help finance the debts incurred either by the state itself or on behalf of Orange and Osceola counties.This exactly
The only way the plan to use those tax dollars would work is if the state legislature passed something to allow it and it would be difficult to not open flood gates for every other county. It would be a major blow to the tourism industry. Also, much of the money is used to fund existing things like stadiums and convention centers so how do you stop funding those things and move money to pay off bonds. Then there’s the political contributions coming from a whole bunch of industry players that would be at risk. Money talks and state and local politicians don’t have the big donations coming in from national sources like the Governor does. They rely almost solely on those donations to run campaigns and stay in office. It’s much to risk for a political stunt.
Or they could have just not started this mess in the first place.I agree. I think a ticket tax/increased hotel occupancy fees is how the state will propose to help finance the debts incurred either by the state itself or on behalf of Orange and Osceola counties.
Since a “tourist tax” wouldn’t be perceived as a tax increase on Florida homeowners directly in the same way a property tax was this is a more palatable option for DeSantis.
I’m sure there’s be legal issues with this and it would likely start an issue with the large entertainment entities. But I don’t think legislators or the Governor care as long as they at least can insulate the voters from the impact at a prima facie level. Then when this is struck down they can always blame “woke entertainment companies” for raising middle class families property taxes.
Note: I’m speaking to this only from a political standpoint as to how this could play out. I also don’t this this is prudent policy plan or legally permissible. But it’s a short term political play.
If they had figured it out before passing the legislation, they would have realized it was idiotic and wouldn’t have done it.It should have been figured out before legislation was passed.
I agree that politically it’s more palatable to taxpayers than increasing real estate taxes on everyone. There’s a reason why when cities build new sports stadiums for the billionaire owners they fund it with hotel taxes since that’s not a direct tax on the people who elected you. I also agree it may be a short term political win but if we move into a recession and the economy starts to suffer and tourism is down opponents will point to this move and place the blame on the current government. You will also have large sums of dollars from the various travel industry players looking to back candidates that support the industry. It may be easy to primary out the current elected officials with candidates that are flush with corporate cash and running on pro-business, pro-economy agendas.I agree. I think a ticket tax/increased hotel occupancy fees is how the state will propose to help finance the debts incurred either by the state itself or on behalf of Orange and Osceola counties.
Since a “tourist tax” wouldn’t be perceived as a tax increase on Florida homeowners directly in the same way a property tax was this is a more palatable option for DeSantis.
I’m sure there’s be legal issues with this and it would likely start an issue with the large entertainment entities. But I don’t think legislators or the Governor care as long as they at least can insulate the voters from the impact at a prima facie level. Then when this is struck down they can always blame “woke entertainment companies” for raising middle class families property taxes.
Note: I’m speaking to this only from a political standpoint as to how this could play out. I also don’t this this is prudent policy plan or legally permissible. But it’s a short term political play.
This about sums up 247 pages of discussion. All these scenarios are the result of self inflicted pain. It’s not too late to reverse course which I still think is the most likely scenario.If they had figured it out before passing the legislation, they would have realized it was idiotic and wouldn’t have done it.
Any ideas on where the "tons of money", being paid to the lawyers , is coming from. Is this a lose-lose situation? It would seem that FL taxpayers AND WDW are going to spend money that, ideally, should be spent building rather than destroying.It should have been figured out before legislation was passed. Lawyers are being paid tons of money because this was done without forethought and based on a complete misunderstanding of the situation.
I would disagree with this, as the hotels and theme parks don’t want to do anything that could potentially drive away business. An increase hotel/ticket tax might not sit well with the general public, as they make their vacation plans.I agree. I think a ticket tax/increased hotel occupancy fees is how the state will propose to help finance the debts incurred either by the state itself or on behalf of Orange and Osceola counties.
Since a “tourist tax” wouldn’t be perceived as a tax increase on Florida homeowners directly in the same way a property tax was this is a more palatable option for DeSantis.
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