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

[Sir_Cliff]

Here is another sign that plenty of people will believe what they believe based on their political affiliation regardless of the facts of the matter. That's why I am a little less optimistic than many on this thread that there will be a reasonable solution to all this. I would like to be pleasantly surprised, though.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Here is another sign that plenty of people will believe what they believe based on their political affiliation regardless of the facts of the matter. That's why I am a little less optimistic than many on this thread that there will be a reasonable solution to all this. I would like to be pleasantly surprised, though.

Agreed on all points.

 

[donsullivan]

I'm all for it. Disney like all other corporations should pay their fair share of taxes. Reedy Creek should've been disbanded a long time ago. A company should not be able to have its own mini government in our country. Plus, Governor Desantis says they have a plan to make sure Disney pays for their debt and the cost of their fire department and other property taxes and not Orange and Osceola County. If Disney wants to embrace politics then deal with the blowback then.

I don't know where people get this impression that Disney doesn't pay taxes as a result of Reedy Creek. They still pay full and normal property taxes to Orange and Osceola Counties just like all of the rest of us who own property in the county. They still pay state and local sales tax, just like everyone else. They still pay resort taxes just like every other resort and hotel in the region. They still pay all the same payroll taxes as everyone else in the state. They don't get traditional services like roads, sewer, water, fire, emergency response, etc from either of those counties and they pay those counties for police support on their property.

Then in addition to all of that, they pay an additional ~$160 million dollars every year to support Reedy Creek providing all those services instead of the adjacent counties.

People need to let go of this 'talking point' that Disney isn't paying taxes as a result of Reedy Creek. One of the reasons RCID was created is so the adjacent counties did not get burdened with all of the costs from their development within the district.

 

[GoofGoof]

Here is another sign that plenty of people will believe what they believe based on their political affiliation regardless of the facts of the matter. That's why I am a little less optimistic than many on this thread that there will be a reasonable solution to all this. I would like to be pleasantly surprised, though.

I agree to an extent, but that poster is just parroting what the Governor is saying. It’s not like the poster is making stuff up. It‘s been covered on every news outlet that the Governor is saying he has a plan, taxpayers won’t foot the bill and Disney will pay their fair share as punishment for getting involved in politics. So without looking into it if you trust the Governor it seems like Disney is in the wrong and he is making them pay. The problem is digging several inches below the surface it’s easy to see that what the Governor is saying makes no sense and is just political spin.

So why am I more optimistic there will be a reasonable solution? As I stated earlier, the Gov has already taken a victory lap and seen his donations increase so he’s gotten what he wants out of this. There are extremely problematic logistical issues around how to actually dissolve RCID to punish Disney without causing severe collateral damage to a bunch of other people. We’ve already seen polling where close to 2/3 of people oppose the government punishing corporations for speaking out politically. It’s great to juice up the base but not overall very popular and when you cause tax increases to regular taxpayers, cause damage to RCID bondholders which include pension funds and other retirement accounts and create uncertainty around the jobs of 400+ full time employees of RCID and several thousand contract workers that makes it even less appetizing. So it’s in everyone’s best interest if the legislature quietly negotiates a settlement behind closed doors where Disney gets mostly what it wants and the Governor can still spin it as a win.

 

[mmascari]

I'm all for it. Disney like all other corporations should pay their fair share of taxes. Reedy Creek should've been disbanded a long time ago. A company should not be able to have its own mini government in our country. Plus, Governor Desantis says they have a plan to make sure Disney pays for their debt and the cost of their fire department and other property taxes and not Orange and Osceola County. If Disney wants to embrace politics then deal with the blowback then.

I assume this is just performance trolling of everyone here.

Reading just 1% of the posts in this thread would show the inaccuracies in the statements.

Got a full page of replies too. So, not the best trolling. A really good one would get 5 pages easy, and almost faster than they could be read. I rate it 2.5 out of 5.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I assume this is just performance trolling of everyone here.

Reading just 1% of the posts in this thread would show the inaccuracies in the statements.

Got a full page of replies too. So, not the best trolling. A really good one would get 5 pages easy, and almost faster than they could be read. I rate it 2.5 out of 5.

You are in a very generous mood for giving it a 2.5. Having a good night i see.

 

[GoofGoof]

I assume this is just performance trolling of everyone here.

Reading just 1% of the posts in this thread would show the inaccuracies in the statements.

Got a full page of replies too. So, not the best trolling. A really good one would get 5 pages easy, and almost faster than they could be read. I rate it 2.5 out of 5.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I usually do. I am usually wrong too, but doesn’t stop me

 

[Disstevefan1]

249 pages in a month.
I know, I know, nothing we say here will make any difference. The powerful will win. The little guy will lose..
But in any event, let’s keep it going!!!!!

 

[mikejs78]

Please be aware that in 2021, Disney reported paying an Effective Income Tax Rate of 1.0% ($25M) on income of $2.561B.

I suspect most of us paid a higher income tax rate.

What does that have to do with Reedy Creek?

 

[flynnibus]

Ok cool I guess you like companies not paying their taxes. Cool have a nice day my dude.

When you setup a taxing district that is almost exclusively Disney... who do you think is paying those taxes?

And remember this is IN ADDITION to the county taxes...

This 'fair share of tax' pitch around RCID is complete and utter ignorance of what is actually in place. If you wanna keep playing 'na na na I can't hear you' and repeat your demonstratedly false claims. You are free to keep painting yourself that way... it's a free country.

 

[mikejs78]

@lazyboy97o asked:

I answered that question.

We're talking about Florida, not federal. But it's not like there they are not paying something that other corps are.

But besides that, that number was based on 2020 income (their tax return in 2021) when Disney posted a loss because of the pandemic (corporate taxes are based on profit, not revenue). In the calendar year 2021, Disney payed $497M in federal income taxes.

 

[GoofGoof]

Please be aware that in 2021, Disney reported paying an Effective Income Tax Rate of 1.0% ($25M) on income of $2.561B.

I suspect most of us paid a higher income tax rate.

We are talking about real estate taxes. As far as I know from various reporting TWDC is paying the same real estate tax rates as every other taxpayer to the 2 counties impacted, plus taxes to RCID.

 

[Nubs70]

What does that have to do with Reedy Creek?

Because Reedy Creek bonds pay out at 4.0% - 5.0% annualized.

WDW would need to pay out higher than 4.0 - 5.0% if they floated the bonds instead of Reedy Creek.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm all for it. Disney like all other corporations should pay their fair share of taxes. Reedy Creek should've been disbanded a long time ago. A company should not be able to have its own mini government in our country. Plus, Governor Desantis says they have a plan to make sure Disney pays for their debt and the cost of their fire department and other property taxes and not Orange and Osceola County. If Disney wants to embrace politics then deal with the blowback then.

Sorry I don't have the time to read 248 pages of this thread between 2 jobs and school. Just wanted to state my opinion. If you don't like it deal with it.

I agree reading 248 pages is tedious…

But you might have perused 1 or 2…cause you missed the ENTIRE fundamentals of what actually is going on.

Disney was never skipping taxes…they were operating a local government where bond investors made money off their massive infrastructure costs while they financed it while Orange/Osceola county didn’t pay.

The horror of it all

 

[flynnibus]

Because Reedy Creek bonds pay out at 4.0% - 5.0% annualized.

WDW would need to pay out higher than 4.0 - 5.0% if they floated the bonds instead of Reedy Creek.

None of which has to do with income tax citations.

Nor claims about 'fair share of taxes'

You're talking about getting cheaper loans - not avoiding taxes.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Please be aware that in 2021, Disney reported paying an Effective Income Tax Rate of 1.0% ($25M) on income of $2.561B.

I suspect most of us paid a higher income tax rate.

That’s because corporate taxes on earnings in the US are a joke…all loopholes written by lobbyists working for those companies and paying the politicians…

But that has nothing to do with how reedy creek operates.

 

[flynnibus]

OK, if we are talking about Florida taxes, then please consider reading the article from Bloomberg:

So now we're citing tax breaks WILLINGLY GIVEN to the company in the last year as examples of Disney not paying it's fair share of taxes?

Come on.. do better.

 

[UNCgolf]

Taxes are not compartmentalized. They have to consider holistically. I'll gladly pay more in real estate taxes if it means I pay no income tax.

You have to look at Disney's entire tax bill. Where is it paying its "fair share" and where is it not?

That's not really a Disney argument, though.

As I said above, if the Republican party wants to shift their platform to increase corporate tax rates and close tax loopholes, that's absolutely fine -- but it's disingenuous to claim that Disney is somehow paying less tax than other corporations.

If that's the basis for the argument that Disney isn't paying their fair share, then neither is Publix, Comcast, Jabil, etc.

 

[mikejs78]

Taxes are not compartmentalized. They have to consider holistically. I'll gladly pay more in real estate taxes if it means I pay no income tax.

You have to look at Disney's entire tax bill. Where is it paying its "fair share" and where is it not?

We are talking specifically about taxes that Ron DeSantis and the FL legislature have control over. Rob DeSantis can do nothing to make Disney pay more in corporate income taxes.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Taxes are not compartmentalized. They have to consider holistically. I'll gladly pay more in real estate taxes if it means I pay no income tax.

You have to look at Disney's entire tax bill. Where is it paying its "fair share" and where is it not?

This is the part where you have run out of counterpoints…so you’re trying to maneuver in an attempt to appear to be “still in the argument”…

…but really it’s over. Pivot.