Didn’t Eisner fire a number of Animation cast after the horrible Treasure Planet movie. ?
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News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
- Thread starter castlecake2.0
- Start date
el_super
Well-Known Member
Yes and no. On one hand, I could see that they needed a lot more space (or at least thought they did) and wanted to expand. No matter how historic to Disney, Glendale isn't the greatest area, and the run down industrial neighborhood wasn't the most marketable place either. So why not look for a brand new purpose-built building?
At the same time, you have to wonder why WDI has grown so large that it has completely outgrown even it's expanded campus, and in an age where everything is getting smaller and more compact. So maybe there was always some intention of scaling back WDI operations as well as getting some cheap land. I don't think it's too sinister on paper, but I think it's still way too early to determine what the consequences of that move will be (if any).
Probably.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I think they’re moving to actually contract. Shed overhead.
How’s that for chaos theory?
GoofGoof
Premium Member
For sure that’s true. CA is a large and very diverse state. Lots of established businesses are not going to just move, especially if they have ties to the area or are in an industry that is very tied to the state. But what you almost never hear these days is a company planning to move jobs from another state to CA. That type of movement is centered mostly around lower cost of living (aka lower wage) states offering a hands off, business friendly environment and low taxes and/or tax credits. FL fit that bill in the not so distant past. Not so much anymore. It’s not too late to move away from these policies, but large companies have been put on notice and the impact could be very bad to the state economy.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
Reboot. I worked for a company that did that. Moved to another state far enough away that people wouldn’t relocate on their own and then only offered relocation for a select group of key people. Then they hired new, cheaper workers to back fill the open roles, but ultimately ended up with less people and at a much lower average cost per employee.
Disney Glimpses
Well-Known Member
Theoretically, sure. But we all know that isn't going to happen.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Exactly…”culture change”…which means slashing high earning professionals
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
We don’t necessarily know that. Weird things happen. The Texas social media law was allowed to take effect and one the reasons why is apparently because YouTube is not actually a website.
Brian
Well-Known Member
You mean you don't have time to read through 287 pages of bickering?
Basically, the Florida legislature, at Gov. DeSantis' urging, passed a bill which the governor has signed that would dissolve RCID and six other special districts established before the state constitution was ratified. Many have criticized this as a retaliatory measure, after Disney called out DeSantis and the legislature for the Parental Rights in Education bill, colloquially referred to as "Don't Say Gay."
Now, there is question as to if it is even legally possible to dissolve RCID due to ongoing municipal bond obligations. There is also the issue of where RCID's debt goes if the District ceases to exist. For these and other reasons, it is considered by myself and most others on this board to be unlikely that RCID goes away as scheduled on June 1, 2023.
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Minthorne
Well-Known Member
Florida acted
Disney reacted
Florida retaliated
Disney kept quiet
Bond markets responded
RCID responded
Florida produced smoke
People conjectured
A few FL residents sued and were dismissed
People theorized
A synopsis was requested
This was composed
flynnibus
Premium Member
The GOP led Florida legislature passed a hurried law to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
A law that most certainly will be challenged in the courts and doesn't have any enforcement until next summer anyway.
Everyone has called out how horrible the impact of doing this is without any real plan, and the Govenor has said he has a plan... but hasn't shared it. Everyone expects they will try to pass new laws to try to work out how to handle the liabilies of RCID without punishing everyone else. But TBD.
So basically what is happening NOW is nothing... except lawyers prepping their arguments and everyone waiting for the GOP's next grand step.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
From your lips to the mouses ears….
Would not be surprised if that’s the Lake Nona effect. Ones who refuse the cross country move are fired , and fill open positions with entry level salary folks from FL.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
FL state legislature jammed a bill through during a special session to dissolve RCID. The Governor and bill sponsors have been crystal clear in telling anyone who will listen that this is being done as a direct retaliation to Disney speaking out against another bill which we cannot talk about here. Since this was not well thought out or debated and no experts were brought in to lay out the issues there are more open questions than answers. Basic questions open:
- If RCID is dissolved FL state law says the assets and liabilities of the special district would go to the local municipality which is likely to be Orange and Osceola counties. Since TWDC already pays their full share of taxes to the counties, same as any other property owner, the theoretical result is a large tax break for Disney. The major downside is all of the services currently provided by RCID (fire, roads, utilities) would have to be picked up by the counties with no additional tax revenues to pay for them. As a result the Orange County tax collector estimates all taxpayers in the county could see as much as a 20-25% increase in real estate taxes
- The liabilities of RCID include around a billion dollars of municipal bonds. Those would shift to the counties as well. The issue there is the bond holders were given a guarantee by the state of FL that nothing would happen to the ability of RCID to collect taxes or pay back the bonds. That covenant would be broken if the district is dissolved. This is a Federal issue covered by securities laws that could potentially block the law from going into effect.
- The governor and other politicians have claimed they have a plan, it’s a really good plan and it results in Disney paying more in taxes and no tax increase for other taxpayers. So far no details at all have been shared. Just repeated promises. We are all expected to take their word that there is a plan.
- There is a potential 1st Amendment Federal lawsuit that has been discussed too. Disney has said nothing publicly but there is some pretty compelling evidence that this is being done by the government to punish Disney for speaking out politically. That evidence includes multiple recordings of the politicians involved saying this was done as a punishment. I know we are in the fake news era where even when there’s a video of someone saying something directly some people refuse to believe it’s real but it seems pretty obvious.
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GoofGoof
Premium Member
In the place where I worked some weren’t even given a choice. They got a severance package and that was their only option. For anyone offered a relocation if they didn’t take it they were given a choice to be severed and get a package. I assume that’s what happens here. People with no interest or no offer to move get a package.
Every year of service a weeks pay is what I heard some companies give staff being let go . Execs get a little sweeter deal.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
We usually offer 2 weeks for each year but there is typically a minimum of 12 weeks so basically anyone who worked 0-6 years got the same severance and then it went up for more years than 6. That is for special situations like work relocating or M&A activity. In normal times it’s 1 week or sometimes none depending on the circumstances.
Excellent synopsis.
To add to #3....
Disney cannot be taxed differently than other property owners unless....a special district is created.
The bill affected special districts created prior to 1967...there are only 5 of those. Currently, there are 1800+ special districts in Florida - airport authorities, utility authorities, the 5 water management districts, etc.
With regards to the bonds, violating the covenants will have major ramifications, as you pointed out, for those investors who purchased the bonds. Even more so as these are MUNICIPAL bonds, backed by the taxing authority of the issuer. It is not good policy for the state to negatively impact issued municipal bonds in such a manner...it can have unforseen consequences on bonds IT wishes to issue. The state has a Bond Finance Division within SBA that oversees the issuance of bonds on behalf of both state agencies and local governments. It's clear no one consulted that office to ascertain what the ramifications would be to the RCID bond investors and the state. I would expect to see lawsuits filed by the bond holders.
Those public victory laps were premature.