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

[lazyboy97o]

Guessing here, they should be. If people and journalists went to the previous RCID and new CFTOD Board meetings, people should be able to attend the meetings of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake without issue. They are government bodies. Hopefully, someone here with more experience can answer this.

If someone wanted to confirm their ability to attend they could always call the RCID and ask. They close at 5 PM today.

Yes, the city council meetings are open to the public. Time and location are posted on the District website.

 

[afterabme]

Just to note, Universal and SeaWorld both do reside in some sort of District, so Disney is not alone, their Districts aren't as broad, as explained here in this article:

Does the state treat all theme parks this way?​

Local governments have given some special privileges to Disney’s theme park competitors. But none approach the state’s arrangement with Disney.

Universal Orlando sits in a portion of a special district called the Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency. A portion of the property taxes paid by Universal that would normally go toward general government are used to pay for public infrastructure improvements near the park. Local officials created the Universal portion of Orlando’s community redevelopment area in the 1990s to ease congestion around Interstate 4.

“Does Universal benefit from those infrastructure improvements? Yes, because they can get more visitors and a better experience for their tourists,” said Chris McCullion, the City of Orlando’s chief financial officer. “At the end of the day though, had we done nothing, I-4 would just be a parking lot around Universal Studios.”

SeaWorld also sits within a special district. But the two Tampa parks it owns, Busch Gardens and Adventure Island, do not, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office.


Article: https://www.tampabay.com/news/flori...districts-like-disneys-reedy-creek-explained/

The ongoing Kirkman Rd extension for the Epic Universe is being funded by three parties: a little bit of grant money from the state, Orange County (most of the funds are supposed to come from the Orlando CRA), and Universal.

 

[flynnibus]

Walt scoped out, plotted and purchased that land long before he knew that RCID would ever exist.

Disney started buying land in FL in Summer of 1964. The idea of RCID or its equivalent was part of the Project Future Seminar in 1965 where the executives discussed how the project could be executed. This all happened BEFORE the public announcement of the Florida Project.

TLDR - RCID or its equivalent was part of the discussion before Disney even had concluded on the project's execution.

 

[GoofGoof]

Walt scoped out, plotted and purchased that land long before he knew that RCID would ever exist.

I would suggest reading the paper @Chi84 posted a few pages back. It details the history and timeline.

 

[LAKid53]

Im not a lawyer and have no real legal knowledge of this situation. But, to the best I can understand it...this is the basic problem:

RCID is a public municipality that....by law....MUST remain seperate from Disney. RCID, by law is NOT supposed to be "loyal" to Disney. If it IS found that RCID was beholden to Disney, then the people that caused this to happen were breaking the law. If this happens, that it will be argued that RCID was literally a fraud. Yes, even the bonds that RCID issued were fraudulant too. The town you live in is NOT supposed to be under the thumb of the companies that operate in your town. If so....that is a CLEAR conflict of interest of your municipality. Towns/cities/counties answer to the public...the people of your state. They are NOT tools of corporations. This is the law in Florida.

I think that all of the communications between Disney and RCID will be subpoenad under Florida's Sunshine Law and if those records show Disney giving illeagle orders to RCID....this whole thing will come crashing down in a horrible way for Disney.

If RCID is deemed to be fraudulant and all those hundreds of millions in RCID bonds are all fraudulant? I dont know....but this "could" be the nastiest rabbit hole that Disney could have ever fallin in to.

This "could" be something that RCID and Disney staff might facing if there is enough evidence. Actual fraud and crimes that could land people in jail. I do suspect that "wistle blowers" will now come out from everywhere soon???

Lets hope this is NOT the case. Let's hope that Disney PROVES that they did NOT use RCID this way and that they never broke the legal wall between them. Let's hope the state gets all the documents and sees nothing illeagle was done by ANYbody.

Let's all hope for the best!!

The Florida Supreme Court answered this question decades ago when it ruled RCID was not in violation of the state constitution.

 

[Chi84]

I would suggest reading the paper @Chi84 posted a few pages back. It details the history and timeline.

Reposting

https://ir.law.fsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=lr

 

[LAKid53]

Are these meetings open to the public?

By Florida statute - "government in the Sunshine" - they must be. As were RCID board meetings and the new board. Law also requires the meetings to be publicly noticed. Which would mean the Orlando Sentinel.

 

[LAKid53]

Reposting

https://ir.law.fsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=lr

At the time of the purchase of the ~ 27,000 acres, there was absolutely no infrastructure - roads, water lines, electric, sewer system, etc. Orange County, along with the developer, would have had to pay for these expenses. But with the establishment of RCID, that burden fell to TWDC, to the benefit of non-RCID property owners in the County. It was a win-win-win situation that benefitted TWDC, Orange & Osceola Counties, and ultimately the state. WDW contributes ~ 5% - 6% to Florida's GDP. Disney is also the biggest taxpayer in Central Florida.

 

[LAKid53]

To be fair the 27,000 acres (less now I guess) gives Disney a huge competitive advantage and with it a lot of additional costs. RCID was only needed because of the size of the property. What benefit would a special district with that scope be for any of Disney’s competitors today? Universal is asking for a special district with some level of control, but that’s for a very specific and limited purpose, a train station. That district will have nothing like the scope of services RCID performed for Disney.

Or Universal could be brought into the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. But then that would belie the intent of the new board.

 

[LAKid53]

I am tempted, the next time I drive past it (like tomorrow when I visit Disney Springs) to abscond with the "Entering RCID" sign on Herzog. For prosperity. Wonder if my HOA will let me hang it on the front of my home.

 

[GrumpyFan]

How is collecting tax revenue without having to use it to provide services not a direct benefit?

I was of the understanding that the tax revenue collected by RCID all went back into the district to help maintain everything. Was it not or am I misunderstanding your question?

 

[lazyboy97o]

I was of the understanding that the tax revenue collected by RCID all went back into the district to help maintain everything. Was it not or am I misunderstanding your question?

I’m taking about the property taxes levied and collected by the counties.

 

[GoofGoof]

I am tempted, the next time I drive past it (like tomorrow when I visit Disney Springs) to abscond with the "Entering RCID" sign on Herzog. For prosperity. Wonder if my HOA will let me hang it on the front of my home.

Depends on how many DeSantis supporters live there and if any of them is on the HOA board

 

[LAKid53]

I was of the understanding that the tax revenue collected by RCID all went back into the district to help maintain everything. Was it not or am I misunderstanding your question?

It does. Including public roads, like Osceola Parkway, Buena Vista, etc. And IIRC, RCID fire & emergency services would respond to calls outside the perimeters of the district.

 

[LAKid53]

I’m taking about the property taxes levied and collected by the counties.

Those go into the counties coffers.

 

[LAKid53]

Depends on how many DeSantis supporters live there and if any of them is on the HOA board

Given the plethora of WDW license tags, I would tend to think not too many.

Plus, our HOA isn't run by residents. It's a professional management company. Which seems to be the norm here in Central Florida.

 

[GoofGoof]

I’m taking about the property taxes levied and collected by the counties.

Plus state corporate income tax Disney pays and don’t forget the sales tax we all fork over on hotel rooms and meals and merchandise and park tickets. Lots of tax streams from WDW.

 

[lazyboy97o]

And IIRC, RCID fire & emergency services would respond to calls outside the perimeters of the district.

This is due to mutual aid agreements that are common.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Plus state corporate income tax Disney pays and don’t forget the sales tax we all fork over on hotel rooms and meals and merchandise and park tickets. Lots of tax streams from WDW.

I would consider those indirect as they are not predicated on the District existing.

 

[LAKid53]

Plus state corporate income tax Disney pays and don’t forget the sales tax we all fork over on hotel rooms and meals and merchandise and park tickets. Lots of tax streams from WDW.

Corporate taxes in Florida are pretty low, in comparison.

Of the 6.5% we pay in sales taxes in Orange County, 0.5% goes to the county and the state gets the 6%. Many counties in the state that voted for the penny option use the revenue to help district schools.