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

[mmascari]

Quite different than a county or municipality.

What makes them different? Are they somehow created out of thin air as independent entities? Are they not also created within the laws of the state?

I mean, if we're going with the legislature can rewrite any law it wants. That just get's us back to the other municipality also exist within other laws, they should be no different.

This also doesn't answer the FL constitutionality question, a framework of laws the legislature cannot just rewrite easily (they can, through the defined amendment and approval process). Taxing people without any input from them was an important topic earlier. This plan seems to just gloss that over. Hence the question, how does a governor appointed taxing authority with no input from those taxed play with the FL constitution?

 

[GoofGoof]

I am not sure everyone is aware of what has been happening. The Governors office has disclosed what they plan to do. They are NOT going to dissolve the District, just change the governing body. As many have pointed out on this forum, dissolving the district opens this up to multiple challenges. By just changing the construction of the board, which is allowed by law, they avoid most of the legal issues. All debts would stay with the district. The board will be 5 member (same as now) appointed by the Governor (change from having current land owners appoint the board). Disney could challenge, but would lose (well 99% chance they would lose). There are whispers that Disney has been negotiating behind closed doors that 5 members would be appointed by gov but that one of the appointed members would be a current resident (i.e. Disney employee). The Gov would claim complete victory, but Disney would not try to challenge and would not disagree with Gov claim of victory.

It’s very likely that the bolded statement is actually not true at all. Pesky state constitution getting in the way. Just because a politician running for national office who has an agenda says something doesn’t make it true. If it were that easy they would have done this from day 1. Clearly it is not. What is actually happening is the gov will attempt to do something he knows is not legal and enjoy the free publicity when it goes to court and if he wins in court added bonus.

 

[GoofGoof]

What makes them different? Are they somehow created out of thin air as independent entities? Are they not also created within the laws of the state?

I mean, if we're going with the legislature can rewrite any law it wants. That just get's us back to the other municipality also exist within other laws, they should be no different.

This also doesn't answer the FL constitutionality question, a framework of laws the legislature cannot just rewrite easily (they can, through the defined amendment and approval process). Taxing people without any input from them was an important topic earlier. This plan seems to just gloss that over. Hence the question, how does a governor appointed taxing authority with no input from those taxed play with the FL constitution?

We went through pages and pages on whether this violates the constitution and the general conclusion was probably yes, but a judge is a person and has bias so despite being unconstitutional it may actually be allowed to go through.

 

[MR.Dis]

What makes them different? Are they somehow created out of thin air as independent entities? Are they not also created within the laws of the state?

I mean, if we're going with the legislature can rewrite any law it wants. That just get's us back to the other municipality also exist within other laws, they should be no different.

This also doesn't answer the FL constitutionality question, a framework of laws the legislature cannot just rewrite easily (they can, through the defined amendment and approval process). Taxing people without any input from them was an important topic earlier. This plan seems to just gloss that over. Hence the question, how does a governor appointed taxing authority with no input from those taxed play with the FL constitution?

The Reedy Creek District is a unique District but not the only one. There have been several created over the years. I am not sure if this is the last one that still exists. The board is and has been responsible party for taxing--and let us be clear that Disney is the Only land holder in the District. I am not even sure if any of the current board members actually reside in the District. If rumors are true, one of the board members will be a resident. Do not let your anger of the Governor distort what is legal in the State of Florida. I wise man once told me that something can be morally reprehensible and socially corrupt, but that does not make it illegal.

 

[MR.Dis]

We went through pages and pages on whether this violates the constitution and the general conclusion was probably yes, but a judge is a person and has bias so despite being unconstitutional it may actually be allowed to go through.

Not going to argue with you, but there have been several District's as Reedy Creek in the State of Florida that have been amended. So there is precedent (i.e. legal).

 

[Disstevefan1]

The Reedy Creek District is a unique District but not the only one. There have been several created over the years. I am not sure if this is the last one that still exists. The board is and has been responsible party for taxing--and let us be clear that Disney is the Only land holder in the District. I am not even sure if any of the current board members actually reside in the District. If rumors are true, one of the board members will be a resident. Do not let your anger of the Governor distort what is legal in the State of Florida. I wise man once told me that something can be morally reprehensible and socially corrupt, but that does not make it illegal.

It's true, TWDC is moral only when they think the morality will be good for the bottom line.

 

[mkt]

It's true, TWDC is moral only when they think the morality will be good for the bottom line.

Morality is relative.

 

[mmascari]

The Reedy Creek District is a unique District but not the only one............[whole bunch of stuff that doesn't mean anything].

None of that had any meaning at all.

On July 28, 1896, 344 registered voters, a sizable percentage of whom were black laborers, packed into the Lobby, a wood frame building on Avenue D standing near the Miami River. They voted for the incorporation of the City of Miami, along with the Flagler slate of candidates.

That makes Miami pretty unique too. Existing within FL law in much the same way as RCID.

If this type of takeover without any consent of the governed is within the FL constitution, nothing stops the same thing from happening to Miami. Imagine the "Make Miami not Woke" ads that would be done then. It would be quite the thing to see.

Alternatively, are you suggesting the land owners within RCID that vote on it's board are willing to vote to change the structure so that instead of electing the board they can be appointed by the governor? That would probably check all the correct boxes and be completely fine. I don't think the board could vote on their own, but the question put to their voters would probably work. If this the plan, that would be a huge news scoop. I would be very surprised if this is the outcome without those voters getting something huge in the trade off. It's usually not in someone best interest to vote to have their taxes controlled by some outside entity they have no input on.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I am not sure everyone is aware of what has been happening. The Governors office has disclosed what they plan to do. They are NOT going to dissolve the District, just change the governing body. As many have pointed out on this forum, dissolving the district opens this up to multiple challenges. By just changing the construction of the board, which is allowed by law, they avoid most of the legal issues. All debts would stay with the district. The board will be 5 member (same as now) appointed by the Governor (change from having current land owners appoint the board). Disney could challenge, but would lose (well 99% chance they would lose). There are whispers that Disney has been negotiating behind closed doors that 5 members would be appointed by gov but that one of the appointed members would be a current resident (i.e. Disney employee). The Gov would claim complete victory, but Disney would not try to challenge and would not disagree with Gov claim of victory.

If I were Disney…I deploy a whole fleet of lawyers to challenge that…

The last thing Disney would want is a group of transient political appointees in charge of land they wholly own and operate

Pass…hard pass

 

[lazyboy97o]

It was not fare to Disney's competitor's (Universal, Seaworld., Etc) that Disney was able to make their own rules.

What rules are unfair?

Not going to argue with you, but there have been several District's as Reedy Creek in the State of Florida that have been amended. So there is precedent (i.e. legal).

Surely you can provide one example.

 

[MR.Dis]

None of that had any meaning at all.



That makes Miami pretty unique too. Existing within FL law in much the same way as RCID.

If this type of takeover without any consent of the governed is within the FL constitution, nothing stops the same thing from happening to Miami. Imagine the "Make Miami not Woke" ads that would be done then. It would be quite the thing to see.

Alternatively, are you suggesting the land owners within RCID that vote on it's board are willing to vote to change the structure so that instead of electing the board they can be appointed by the governor? That would probably check all the correct boxes and be completely fine. I don't think the board could vote on their own, but the question put to their voters would probably work. If this the plan, that would be a huge news scoop. I would be very surprised if this is the outcome without those voters getting something huge in the trade off. It's usually not in someone best interest to vote to have their taxes controlled by some outside entity they have no input on.

Do you really have a point here. First of all I am not suggesting anything, just relaying info that is readily available on the internet if you do a little searching. And just so you know, the last news release stated there are approx 100 residents in the entire Reedy Creek District (all Disney employees).

 

[MR.Dis]

If I were Disney…I deploy a whole fleet of lawyers to challenge that…

The last thing Disney would want is a gory of of transient political appointees in charge of land they wholly own and operate

Pass…hard pass

But everyone is missing the real point. If things happen the way rumors have it, NOTHING will really change. The new board will review plans on proposed budgets, request for bonds to be issued, Etc and most likely rubber stamp everything. Give Iger some credit, he is way to smart to have Disney get involved in a very public law suit for what? Only to most likely lose and have a very angry Legislature looking for some sort of revenge? That is what started this whole thing to begin with. No, the smart move is to just move on and learn to work with the new board. By the way has anyone ever been on a board. It is a part time gig and the main objective is to do as little work as possible. So maybe the first year or so Disney may have some push back, but over time it will be just the way it was.

 

[GoofGoof]

Not going to argue with you, but there have been several District's as Reedy Creek in the State of Florida that have been amended. So there is precedent (i.e. legal).

So there were several districts established with a board that was elected by the landowners of the district and have taxing authority that were then amended to have a board that the Governor appoints? Were those amendments voted on by the landowners? Do you have an example because we went through that many pages back and couldn’t find 1.

 

[Minthorne]

The definitive answers to all the questions here are, in order:

Yes
Obviously
and
only a little.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But everyone is missing the real point. If things happen the way rumors have it, NOTHING will really change. The new board will review plans on proposed budgets, request for bonds to be issued, Etc and most likely rubber stamp everything. Give Iger some credit, he is way to smart to have Disney get involved in a very public law suit for what? Only to most likely lose and have a very angry Legislature looking for some sort of revenge? That is what started this whole thing to begin with. No, the smart move is to just move on and learn to work with the new board. By the way has anyone ever been on a board. It is a part time gig and the main objective is to do as little work as possible. So maybe the first year or so Disney may have some push back, but over time it will be just the way it was.

1. You have a lot of opinions for a new member…have we met before?

2. Iger is done…one way or another. That die is cast.

3. There’s a lot of misconception that Disney “looks” bad in this. Completely wrong. They don’t look wrong nationally…in the business world…hell, Certainly not in the I4 corridor (which plays a part in this as well)…

Now chapek was an idiot…for sure…but events since make that irrelevant too. He was hired to be fired from the start. That much is clear.

 

[MR.Dis]

So there were several districts established with a board that was elected by the landowners of the district and have taxing authority that were then amended to have a board that the Governor appoints? Were those amendments voted on by the landowners? Do you have an example because we went through that many pages back and couldn’t find 1.

I just googled and this is from ABC Tampa:

Florida​

With the Florida Legislature voting Wednesday to strip the area around Disney World of its special district status, the question many Floridians are asking is what is a special district exactly?

By: Tim Kephart

Posted at 3:50 PM, Apr 20, 2022

and last updated 4:26 PM, Apr 20, 2022

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With the Florida Legislature voting Wednesday to strip the area around Disney World of its special district status, the question many Floridians are asking is what is a special district exactly?
ABC Action News goes in-depth on the topic to help you understand what a special district is and what the legislature's moves may mean.
Recent Stories from abcactionnews.com

What are special districts?
According to the Florida Constitution, "Special District" means "a unit of local government created for a special purpose, as opposed to a general purpose, which has jurisdiction to operate within a limited geographic boundary and is created by general law, special act, local ordinance, or by rule of the Governor and Cabinet. The term does not include a school district, a community college district, a special improvement district created pursuant to s. 285.17, a municipal service taxing or benefit unit as specified in s. 125.01, or a board which provides electrical service and which is a political subdivision or a municipality or is part of a municipality."

What exactly does that mean?
Put another way, special districts are units of local, special-purpose government. They are similar to municipalities and counties. The main difference, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, are municipalities and counties have broad powers and provide local general governmental services; while special districts have local specialized government services and have limited, related, and explicitly prescribed powers."

How many special districts are in the state of Florida?
According to the Florida DEO, there are currently 1,844 special districts across the state. The full list can be found here.

 

[lazyboy97o]

But everyone is missing the real point. If things happen the way rumors have it, NOTHING will really change. The new board will review plans on proposed budgets, request for bonds to be issued, Etc and most likely rubber stamp everything. Give Iger some credit, he is way to smart to have Disney get involved in a very public law suit for what? Only to most likely lose and have a very angry Legislature looking for some sort of revenge? That is what started this whole thing to begin with. No, the smart move is to just move on and learn to work with the new board. By the way has anyone ever been on a board. It is a part time gig and the main objective is to do as little work as possible. So maybe the first year or so Disney may have some push back, but over time it will be just the way it was.

Disenfranchisement is a major change.

 

[MR.Dis]

So there are 1844 special districts. Plenty to research if anyone wishes to do so,

 

[drnilescrane]

Disenfranchisement is a major change.

If it's anything like GOAA and CFX the problem is Disney's tax money is going to used to create grift for the governor's cronies. Rick Scott was a master at it.

Yeah, they'll rubber stamp what Disney wants. As long as the Governor's buddies get the contracts, at a hefty mark up too. Maybe that's why Disney's ok with it.

 

[MR.Dis]

1. You have a lot of opinions for a new member…have we met before?

2. Iger is done…one way or another. That die is cast.

3. There’s a lot of misconception that Disney “looks” bad in this. Completely wrong. They don’t look wrong nationally…in the business world…hell, Certainly not in the I4 corridor (which plays a part in this as well)…

Now chapek was an idiot…for sure…but events since make that irrelevant too. He was hired to be fired from the start. That much is clear.

I do not believe we have ever met. I have been reading this forum for years, just finally decided to join. I am not a Disney apologist, nor am I a fan of big government. I believe in freedom of speech, which makes it difficult to get angry with Chapek. The thing is opening mouth and inserting foot was not in the best interest of Disney. Disney looks bad in this if their stock value goes down, that is ultimately how they get judged. Iger is done, but he will desparately want to right the ship before he is finally showed the door - his ego will want the final judgement be that he saved Disney.

As far as me personally, I love going to WDW, I am a DVC owner. Have taken 3 Disney cruises and my wife and I have booked a voyage with my daughter and 2 grandkids this May. I am big on keeping up on all things Disney, reading as many news articles and forum post as possible. I am way past retirement age, but still work as with inflation do not believe I could continue my lifestyle on retirement income.