ewensell3
Well-Known Member
That is the important part which kills my argument. If SoG is self sufficient, then none of my federal tax dollars are going into the district. That ends my train of thought right there.
I yield to the floor.
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News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
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That is the important part which kills my argument. If SoG is self sufficient, then none of my federal tax dollars are going into the district. That ends my train of thought right there.
I yield to the floor.
drnilescrane
Well-Known Member
The full tax roll is available on Page 14 of this document.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The District and the municipalities do set their own millage rate. The District even has the power to assess higher millage rates than other local governments.
The announcement of lowering the millage rate was a lie because they announced changes to the cities’ millage rates that they do not control.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Its still MWR - still a federal agency (through the dod) and still impacted by decisions by the district board including fees and services.That is the important part which kills my argument. If SoG is self sufficient, then none of my federal tax dollars are going into the district. That ends my train of thought right there.
I yield to the floor.
They just don’t pay taxes…. Same as other federal entities
Here you go:
History
www.shadesofgreen.org
You would probably need to dig though all the records to be sure. There's going to be a lot of nuance to this.
From the link:
Which at first glance, sounds like Disney owns the land and MWR owns the stuff built on it. Which one pays the District tax bill is probably very interesting.
Either way, it's why most posters say "majority" or "most" or "primarily" instead of "Disney is the only taxpayer in RCID". To avoid an over simplification and absolute. By percentage of RCID taxes paid, Disney is clearly the majority of them by a lot.
*Edit - By "interesting", I mean full of legal details, contract law, and subject to lots of conditions of the contract on how the relationship was created. Not some fancy plot point. Also, probably only interesting to an attorney or accountant and extremely boring to everyone else.
Are you saying accountants are boring?
Chip Chipperson
Well-Known Member
Correct. The only thing the County controls with regards to District taxes is the assessed taxable value of the properties. The amount levied is completely up to the District (within the limits set by the State, of course).
And that's the beauty of a special district....it can set rates that differ from local governments - cities, counties - in the area.
And of course the district’s taxpayers (mostly Disney) ALSO pay the counties’ property taxes.
Stripes
Premium Member
In order for a special district with ad valorem taxing authority to be created in Florida, do the property owners inside the proposed district have approve it?
I don’t quite understand how it would be legal for the state to simply create a new special district and increase taxes on a local area without local approval.
Let’s say I live in Miami and the state is upset with our local politics. What is stopping them from creating a special district with state controlled board in Miami and setting the millage rate at 100 mils?
I don’t quite understand how it would be legal for the state to simply create a new special district and increase taxes on a local area without local approval.
Let’s say I live in Miami and the state is upset with our local politics. What is stopping them from creating a special district with state controlled board in Miami and setting the millage rate at 100 mils?
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Property owner approval is required. In some cases like with community development districts, the requirement is unanimous written approval.
The scenario you describe is exactly why CFTOD should be such a worrying precedent. It’s a blueprint for state governments to seize control from local governments.
While “First Amendment” concerns are the sexy issue, the District seems to run afoul of a number of other state laws and constitutional provisions.
That was my point about their lies.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
You said only the counties can change the mileage rate. The District has their own separate millage rate that they can change (although there are legal questions about their authority to raise the rate).
mikejs78
Well-Known Member
I've wondered why Disney wasn't suing on those grounds. Maybe they are holding that one for when the district actually tries to raise the rate...
Which, under the Home Rules Power Act in the Florida Constitution would be unconstitutional. But the FL Legislature overtime has chipped away at the Act. Unconstitutionally, in my opinion.
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
That’s what I expect. And based on how poorly the District’s attempts at PR and messaging have been (despite some believing them), I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen whenever such a proposal would need to happen at the latest to slide into the next year’s budget. I believe their fiscal calendar follows the Disney fiscal calendar, so it’s likely too late for the fiscal 2024 budget, thankfully.
Maybe some fireworks to start off the calendar year with suggestions they need to raise the millage for 2025 with some BS study around a perfectly normal practice/expenditure that they’ll try to spin as inappropriate and the fix is more expensive…but ignore the expensive litigation against Disney.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
You have a much better case if you can show actual damage, have they actually raised the millage yet?
TDO does a great job of challenging Orange County valuations of their property and I would expect no less on the millage rate.
I *think* RCID (and now its successor) was specifically empowered to set a millage rate of up to 30%.
My impression is that the current board doesn’t want to immediately raise the rate because of the business owners who showed up at some early meetings to express fears about higher taxes to pay for litigation and to hire the plethora of consultants proposed by the new board. The business owners were all tenants of Disney (ie. Disney is actually the taxpayer even on those properties, but the taxes are paid by the lessee per the lease agreement). Killing other businesses off in the first year might interfere with their PR campaign. (Just my personal impression based on the meetings.)
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I’m wondering if you’re gonna “come onboard” and accept that the “laws” there aren’t worth what they’re printed on?
It didn’t used to be that way…Florida was rather delightfully boring when the WW2 generation built the place…
…but they are long gone and their sensibilities died with them.
So it’s all crackpots on the fly…
Don’t expect to see James Madison, Hamilton, Lincoln or FDR walking around Tallahassee anytime soon.
Hell…I’d settle for Gerald ford…
This whole RCID thing has been political vanity/stupidity on public display
And I’m not a big documented fan of the management of TWDC…
But there’s no nuance to what this all is and how low rent.
Exactly this.
While creating a new district would clearly be a problem and easily challenged, the CFTOD shows that they could just replace the existing elected government with another one. So instead of creating a new district overlay to punish you, instead they would replace the mayor and board of commissioners with governor appointed people instead of elected officials. This new government would not be accountable to the people of Miami at all, only the governor.
Then just repeat for the counties and other cities that are out of line too.
And expect a constitutional challenge if they did.