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

[Disstevefan1]

The news article I read said that the ready Creek district operates annually at a budget deficit of anywhere from 5 to 10 million dollars. And due to that rolling deficit they have one billion in debt. It sounds like unless taxes are increased, the counties will be absorbing more cost than they will in taxes from Disney.

Correct, the number I saw was 2 Billion in debt. No worries, its Orange and Osceola counties problem.

 

[jericho]

Corporations have an interest in lobbying on issues that directly impact their business. If they choose to engage in politics outside their purview, they will be treated with all the aggression inherent to the political sphere, and they will deserve it. Go apolitical again, and we'll all be happy to go back to business. Turn into a propaganda and lobbying wing for the most radical activists and be treated in kind.

 

[peter11435]

The news article I read said that the ready Creek district operates annually at a budget deficit of anywhere from 5 to 10 million dollars. And due to that rolling deficit they have one billion in debt. It sounds like unless taxes are increased, the counties will be absorbing more cost than they will in taxes from Disney.

Debt is from bonds they have sold not from budget deficits

 

[flynnibus]

Everyone is ignoring part 2. The RCID will just re-establish itself and go about its merry way.

They can't reestablish 'itself' - it would have to be recreated by the very state legislature that just voted to kill it.

This is not self-service

 

[WildRide]

Putting aside the tax and debt liability issues, and political gamesmanship for a second... I'm trying to understand why Disney should be entitled to this still? If competitors like Universal and Seaworld have managed, what is the justification for keeping the status quo now that all of this desolate swampland has been developed?

 

[KrzyKtty]

Debt is from bonds they have sold not from budget deficits

The article still stated the counties would have to absorb the debt placing the burden on the taxpayers.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Correct, the number I saw was 2 Billion in debt. No worries, its Orange and Osceola counties problem.
DeSantis does not care about these folks, he does not need their votes.

He actually does need them - hypothetically.

A shift in Osceola can flip the state

 

[IanDLBZF]

Mayor Demmings did say that he is opposed to this as well.

Mayor: Dissolving Disney's special district would be 'catastrophic' to Orange County budget

Mayor Jerry Demings said he doesn’t think the people who are voting on the decision have given any thought to the outcome.

www.wesh.com

 

[WDWTrojan]

This is going to be challenged. Plus the statute as it stands requires more than half the residents of LBV & Bay Lake to vote for the dissolution which simply won't happen.

 

[flynnibus]

The news article I read said that the ready Creek district operates annually at a budget deficit of anywhere from 5 to 10 million dollars. And due to that rolling deficit they have one billion in debt. It sounds like unless taxes are increased, the counties will be absorbing more cost than they will in taxes from Disney.

No - they issue bonds to raise money to spend instead of having to save hundred of millions in cash before they do something. This is typical of all entities. They issue bonds that are secured with their future tax revenues. It's no different than you getting a loan from the bank to pay for a car and using your job history as proof of your ability to pay... or you getting a home equity load to to allow yourself to have a line of credit. The difference is a government will have to spend HUGE chunks of money at a time compared to what you as an individual would so it's not as easy for them to simply 'save up before you buy'

The news and others are mashing up different points and people are getting confused. There is the issue of their existing debt and having to pay those ongoing obligations and there is the issue of paying for all the services and liabilities the counties would inherent without any specific revenue to pay for them (think roads, services, utilities, etc). So the counties would have to inheret massive new liabilities that do not have existing funding to pay for them. That's the crux. They would have to come up with new tax revenues (which can come from a multitude of means) to pay for those things.

 

[MickeyWaffleCo.]

I have no issue with your having a different viewpoint. I know this is a highly charged issue and people have strong viewpoints. And, hey, if you posted an editorial on the site railing against the bill, I'd have no issue with that. My issue is simply on the reporting of the actual facts here. The bill is not called the "Don't Say Gay" bill. I mean, it's just not. It's called the Parental Rights in Education Act. Opponents have dubbed it the "Don't Say Gay" bill to make a point about it. In what is supposed to be a news story reporting information, I don't know why you can't add that simple bit of context. That's all I'm saying.

100% agreed. Though the Site That Must Not Be Named also obviously shared the same view of the bill, they did provide the factual name of the bill in addition to the name coined by its opponents. If I were running a news site, whether I agreed with a bill or not, I’d call it by its actual name. News is supposed to be as objective as possible (even if that’s often not the case nowadays).

 

[Disstevefan1]

Corporations have an interest in lobbying on issues that directly impact their business. If they choose to engage in politics outside their purview, they will be treated with all the aggression inherent to the political sphere, and they will deserve it. Go apolitical again, and we'll all be happy to go back to business. Turn into a propaganda and lobbying wing for the most radical activists and be treated in kind.

Sadly, in theory, it's a good idea for big companies to be apolitical. It does not work in practice. These days anyway.
Big companies like TWDC can't be apolitical. Today I think its a necessity; power, water, politics.

 

[Disstevefan1]

He actually does need them - hypothetically.

A shift in Osceola can flip the state

Very possible. Lets see what happens.

 

[Animal_Kingdom_09]

Ok, how will this affect any of us? As of right now I'm having a difficult time figuring that out.
And as much as I love you all on this site I find it pretty disheartening that this thread has just become another echo chamber for both sides with self professed experts giving their opinions as facts without really stating how this affects Disney's guests.

Unless you happen to own some of the bonds, there is a >99% chance that it will not affect you at all.

As an aside, the RCID issued a statement on EMMA that the legislation allows them to re-form the district under a different law, and the new district will assume the obligations of the old district. Since the RCID has a responsibility to its bondholders, my guess is that all you will see is the district changed to a CDD. It will do all of the same things except for zoning changes (I think) and Orange/Osceola counties will rubber stamp those changes (see Universal/Sea World).

 

[ctrlaltdel]

I will just say in the $200m in pension/healthcare liability that the RIDC holds is a bit of a misnomer. That is something that doesn’t need to be paid immediately and is already paid for in each budget. It is typically just an actuarial number done by the auditor each year for the year-end audit.

And that’s actually not too bad of a number either. My City had an over $160m liability and we have a budget a quarter of RIDC’s.

 

[flynnibus]

If they choose to engage in politics outside their purview, they will be treated with all the aggression inherent to the political sphere, and they will deserve it.

If you were talking about customers or public sentiment - you'd have a point. But we're talking about government reaction - not individuals. One is protected against by the first amendment to our constitution - the other is not.

 

[peter11435]

The article still stated the counties would have to absorb the debt placing the burden on the taxpayers.

That is likely correct

 

[AEfx]

Putting aside the tax and debt liability issues, and political gamesmanship for a second... I'm trying to understand why Disney should be entitled to this still? If competitors like Universal and Seaworld have managed, what is the justification for keeping the status quo now that all of this desolate swampland has been developed?

Shhhh...no one wants to admit that they are suddenly turning Disney into the "poor little rich kid" underdog who can't get a break, rallying for special corporate interests - while at the same time trying to convince everyone that there is "nothing more to see here" because Disney doesn't really benefit from it, anyway.

It's kooky the mental gymnastics folks will go through in our Heroes vs. Arch Villains society.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I will just say in the $200m in pension/healthcare liability that the RIDC holds is a bit of a misnomer. That is something that doesn’t need to be paid immediately and is already paid for in each budget. It is typically just an actuarial number done by the auditor each year for the year-end audit.

And that’s actually not too bad of a number either. My City had an over $160m liability and we have a budget a quarter of RIDC’s.

A drop in the bucket compared to the 2B in debt from RCID...

 

[KrzyKtty]

No - they issue bonds to raise money to spend instead of having to save hundred of millions in cash before they do something. This is typical of all entities. They issue bonds that are secured with their future tax revenues. It's no different than you getting a loan from the bank to pay for a car and using your job history as proof of your ability to pay... or you getting a home equity load to to allow yourself to have a line of credit. The difference is a government will have to spend HUGE chunks of money at a time compared to what you as an individual would so it's not as easy for them to simply 'save up before you buy'

The news and others are mashing up different points and people are getting confused. There is the issue of their existing debt and having to pay those ongoing obligations and there is the issue of paying for all the services and liabilities the counties would inherent without any specific revenue to pay for them (think roads, services, utilities, etc). So the counties would have to inheret massive new liabilities that do not have existing funding to pay for them. That's the crux. They would have to come up with new tax revenues (which can come from a multitude of means) to pay for those things.nless I'm not understanding something, What you just said is since the district will no longer be there to pay on their bonds, and the counties are absorbing the districts, the counties will be responsible for paying for the bonds.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the district will no longer be there to pay on their bonds, and since the counties are absorbing the districts, the counties will be responsible for paying for the bonds. Since it is the district that owns the bonds and not Disney world themselves?

This is all assuming that they somehow get past the fact that the "landowners" of the district vote in favor of dissolving the district which is a requirement by law, and will never happen.