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

[lazyboy97o]

The advantages were:

1- Set your own zoning rules
2- Expedited permitting.
3- Access to debt at municipal rates

All that Disney had to do was pay taxes to two entities: the counties and the district.

Oh, and Disney even pays separately for the police presence at WDW, even though it's within the relative counties.

Large properties can be designated as planned developments and get development agreements to allow for control over zoning.

There is nothing expedited about permitting.

 

[LAKid53]

“(2)(a) Notice of intent to consider a development agreement shall be advertised approximately 7 days before each public hearing in a newspaper of general circulation and readership in the county where the local government is located. Notice of intent to consider a development agreement shall also be mailed to all affected property owners before the first public hearing. The day, time, and place at which the second public hearing will be held shall be announced at the first public hearing.”

Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

It sounds like the lawyers for the board are alleging that the bolded portion was not done appropriately, if at all.

The Orlando Sentinel would meet the requirement for public notice. And the Board will have to prove RCID did not comply with mailing out notices to the property owners within the District.

I really doubt RCID didn't comply.

 

[LAKid53]

The advantages were:

1- Set your own zoning rules
2- Expedited permitting.
3- Access to debt at municipal rates

All that Disney had to do was pay taxes to two entities: the counties and the district.

Oh, and Disney even pays separately for the police presence at WDW, even though it's within the relative counties.

The debt is carried by RCID...which is eligible for debt at municipal rates. The assessment paid by TWDC was going towards the retirement of the bond issue.

Corporations cannot issue municipal bonds.

 

[LAKid53]

Large properties can be designated as planned developments and get development agreements to allow for control over zoning.

There is nothing expedited about permitting.

Correct.

 

[Figgy1]

One thing that stuck out to me was expedited payment of bonds. How much can the new district raise payments at a time? Would this fall under any statues in Florida? Would this now be considered taxation as the state is now running the board?

 

[mkt]

I think Central FL ( toll happy ) loves getting money from locals and tourists
FL turnpike, 417 greenway, 528 Bee Line Expressway , Osceola Parkway , could be other roads ,

Every large metro area in Florida is toll happy, Central Florida is not alone in this.

Also, the Turnpike is state owned, and the 518, 417, and 429 are partly state owned.

 

[Stripes]

This was part of the amendments to the LDRs on January 25, 2023. To be clear, it has nothing to do with the development agreement. But, it is interesting to see a certain requirement included.

And another section:

 

[mkt]

The debt is carried by RCID...which is eligible for debt at municipal rates. The assessment paid by TWDC was going towards the retirement of the bond issue.

Corporations cannot issue municipal bonds.

Let's use the Disney Springs garages as an example. They're owned by RCID because they were financed with municipal debt. Disney couldn't have financed them for close to those rates.

 

[LAKid53]

No direct comments from Disney so far, but it seems Disney has sent few bits of information to outlets for context to some of the statements made today. This is from a thread, so there are 2 Tweets in each box below.

For Disney to appraise its own property would require an amendment to the Florida Constitution.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But Disney was planning to build a huge entertainment complex that required infrastructure local governments couldn’t handle or pay for with taxes.

They could have once they gained Disney as a taxpayer.

If developing the resort infrastructure cost $X and RCID paid for it by taxing Disney $X, then Orange County could have built the exact same infrastructure, also by taxing Disney $X.

 

[Tha Realest]

The Orlando Sentinel would meet the requirement for public notice. And the Board will have to prove RCID did not comply with mailing out notices to the property owners within the District.

I really doubt RCID didn't comply.

Seems like it would be pretty easy to determine, one way or another.

In fact, wouldn’t confirmation of that mailing be disclosable under Sunshine laws upon request if it exists?

 

[Stripes]

I really doubt RCID didn't comply.

I’d be shocked as well. But clearly the board’s lawyers seem to think they have found something to indicate otherwise.

 

[peter11435]

They could have once they gained Disney as a taxpayer.

If developing the resort infrastructure cost $X and RCID paid for it by taxing Disney $X, then Orange County could have built the exact same infrastructure, also by taxing Disney $X.

But the county couldn’t have taxed Disney and only Disney.

 

[Chi84]

They could have once they gained Disney as a taxpayer.

If developing the resort infrastructure cost $X and RCID paid for it by taxing Disney $X, then Orange County could have built the exact same infrastructure, also by taxing Disney $X.

I don't really understand that, but sometimes ideas can be pretty unique. In any event, the district that was created accomplished the purpose intended by both parties at the time. It's not possible to say that other plans that required tax consequences to Disney would not have been rejected, right?

 

[Stripes]

In fact, wouldn’t confirmation of that mailing be disclosable under Sunshine laws upon request if it exists?

I submitted a request already. Haven’t heard back, although I also haven’t heard back on another request I made a week ago that has now been made available to everyone. So I imagine their public records office is overwhelmed right about now.

The Orlando Sentinel also asked a CFTOD spokesperson about a mailed notice. The spokesperson declined to comment.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But the county couldn’t have taxed Disney and only Disney.

Where talking about the pre-development time period when it was all swamps.

And yes, they absolutely could have taxed commercial, residential, agro, etc. at different rates.

 

[UNCgolf]

For everyone else, they don't care about this in the slightest.

This will be a motivating factor in the primary and a non-issue in the General. Again, we can debate the merits all day long, but as a cynical political maneuver, I think it's all upside for him.

This is where you might be wrong, and where DeSantis is really putting himself in a potentially dangerous position re: a Presidential campaign.

Playing heavily to the base will win you a primary, as you mentioned, but it could easily kill his chances in a general election. There are already moderate Republicans (and more importantly, independents) who have soured on him over the things he's done in Florida. Not solely this Disney issue, but it is part of it. He doesn't want to end up in a Trump situation where people that would normally vote Republican just don't vote.

 

[lazyboy97o]

They could have once they gained Disney as a taxpayer.

If developing the resort infrastructure cost $X and RCID paid for it by taxing Disney $X, then Orange County could have built the exact same infrastructure, also by taxing Disney $X.

That is illegal without some sort of special district.

 

[peter11435]

Where talking about the pre-development time period when it was all swamps.

And yes, they absolutely could have taxed commercial, residential, agro, etc. at different rates.

You mean when they were spending boat loads of money to turn swamp land into a vacation destination and built state of the art infrastructure and utilities. Yeah. I know.

And not without impacting other taxpayers or creating a…….. special district

 

[LAKid53]

Let's use the Disney Springs garages as an example. They're owned by RCID because they were financed with municipal debt. Disney couldn't have financed them for close to those rates.

They are owned by RCID because they sit on land the District owns. Just as any municipal garage is owned, not solely because municipal bonds paid for the project.

And those saying Universal doesn't get the same benefits as WDW need to remember that Uni sits in the Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency. A portion of the property Universal pays goes towards infrastructure improvements near the park. SeaWorld also sits within a special district.