A case can be made that RCID exists to serve the millions of tourists from Florida and around the world that come to the district and add billions to the Florida economy and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Fair point, and I'm inclined to agree since it's very hard to argue that Disney's existence doesn't support the state and local economy in considerable ways, but I think the case can also be made that special districts like that which make up The Villages and, for example, the one (Community Development District) I live in, serve the needs of individual homeowners and those that need the support, as opposed to RCID which supports an incredibly wealthy and influential corporation.
For example, my CDD was established to finance the infrastructure needed to support a residential community. My real estate agent explained to me that if the developers were responsible for building that infrastructure themselves, my builder and most other small builders simply wouldn't be able to afford to build, because the costs of that infrastructure would have to be tacked onto the cost of the home and they can't lower their prices enough to compete with the likes of Lennar and DR Horton, who are popping up around every corner. Homeowners like me pay back the cost of the infrastructure debt that the CDD manages over the course of a fixed term, making it possible for small builders to build and families to have a fair amount of choices when it comes to building their homes. Further, the CDD handles ongoing maintenance of that infrastructure, which is typically billed to homeowners separate from the debt.
Disney has the resources they need at this point to support their ongoing infrastructure needs themselves, and can certainly foot the bill for new infrastructure. I mentioned way earlier in this thread that RCID built Disney three Disney Springs parking garages at zero direct cost to the company with tax-free money; a company with the resources like Disney shouldn't be getting freebies like that, in my opinion. Whereas, special districts like those which make up The Villages and most new home developments in Central Florida arguably require the type of support that special districts provide it in order to build and sustain themselves.
The multiple special districts, special zoning, etc. of The Villages all very much serve the interests of the Morse family who continue to exercise great control over the area.
The Morse family is not a Fortune 500 company generating billions of dollars in revenue each year. My overall point is that Disney doesn't need its hand held anymore to maintain WDW. Residential developments do. I'm not familiar with The Villages' financials, but I am positive that they didn't have $67 billion in revenue last year to work with.