flynnibus
Premium Member
It’s the normal budget process to have to go through these hearings. They already would have sent their TRIM notices on milage rates.
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News Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
- Thread starter castlecake2.0
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It’s the normal budget process to have to go through these hearings. They already would have sent their TRIM notices on milage rates.
Gilzean proposed the millage rate at last meeting and the board approved it. I believe someone said that would lock the approved rate as the highest it could be for the year (I can’t remember for sure whether that was discussed at the meeting or I read it elsewhere). After that at least one of the cities declined to approve the lower millage rate (the city’s portion) proposed by Gilzean - this may have related to the pay duty police officers but I’m not sure because I didn’t see that meeting.
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(…)
I didn’t click to the new name until the latest notice was posted today, so I looked him up: he was an Aide to GOP members for several years, until July 2023.
cranbiz
Well-Known Member
Shocking. Another political hack.
Lake Buena Vista, FLA – The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) Administrator Glen Gilzean has announced Eric Ferrari, Deputy Chief of Operations at the District, will assume the role of Acting Fire Chief, while a nationwide search is underway for a permanent replacement for retiring Fire Chief Richard LePere.
““We wish Chief LePere all the best as he begins a well-deserved retirement,” said CFTOD Administrator Glen Gilzean. “We appreciate the chief’s lifetime of service and know that Deputy Chief Ferrari will continue the District’s Safety-First mission as we undertake a nationwide search for qualified applicants to fill this role permanently.”
Fire Chief Richard LePere completed his final day of service at the District, entering retirement after nearly 40 years of work in the fire service.
Acting Fire Chief Ferrari initially began work at the District in 1996 as a 911 dispatcher, after 2 years of service, he left the District, only to come back as the Capitan of the 911 Communications center in 2001. He has worked his way through the ranks, and ultimately became Deputy Chief of Operations in 2016.
CFTOD has retained a national headhunting firm, SRG, to find and make recommendations about qualified applicants to fill the role of Fire Chief. The District is encouraging both internal and external applicants to submit their qualifications on www.RCID.org/careers. Materials will be forwarded to SRG for consideration.
““We wish Chief LePere all the best as he begins a well-deserved retirement,” said CFTOD Administrator Glen Gilzean. “We appreciate the chief’s lifetime of service and know that Deputy Chief Ferrari will continue the District’s Safety-First mission as we undertake a nationwide search for qualified applicants to fill this role permanently.”
Fire Chief Richard LePere completed his final day of service at the District, entering retirement after nearly 40 years of work in the fire service.
Acting Fire Chief Ferrari initially began work at the District in 1996 as a 911 dispatcher, after 2 years of service, he left the District, only to come back as the Capitan of the 911 Communications center in 2001. He has worked his way through the ranks, and ultimately became Deputy Chief of Operations in 2016.
CFTOD has retained a national headhunting firm, SRG, to find and make recommendations about qualified applicants to fill the role of Fire Chief. The District is encouraging both internal and external applicants to submit their qualifications on www.RCID.org/careers. Materials will be forwarded to SRG for consideration.
If you're curious where the source of funds for the district comes from, the Orlando Sentinel has published the following breakdown of 2023 property tax revenue in the district.
www.orlandosentinel.com
Not magical: Disney will pay legal bills for both sides in DeSantis fight
The biggest taxpayer by far footing the district’s legal bill is Disney itself. “It’s almost an additional way of punishing Disney by using their own money to sue,” said Ric…
www.orlandosentinel.com
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
I believe that money would fall under Disney as it’s paid as part of the lease. The listed entities are ones you will see associated with property records.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
If you're curious where the source of funds for the district comes from, the Orlando Sentinel has published the following breakdown of 2023 property tax revenue in the district.
View attachment 740365
View attachment 740370
Not magical: Disney will pay legal bills for both sides in DeSantis fight
The biggest taxpayer by far footing the district’s legal bill is Disney itself. “It’s almost an additional way of punishing Disney by using their own money to sue,” said Ric…
and the most important stakeholder is…
That's a step down. Unless he got the same fantastic salary deal as Gilzean.
If you're curious where the source of funds for the district comes from, the Orlando Sentinel has published the following breakdown of 2023 property tax revenue in the district.
View attachment 740365
View attachment 740370
Not magical: Disney will pay legal bills for both sides in DeSantis fight
The biggest taxpayer by far footing the district’s legal bill is Disney itself. “It’s almost an additional way of punishing Disney by using their own money to sue,” said Ric…
Interesting to see Duke Energy listed. The solar farm along 429 is RCID property.
The guy paying the $161M property tax bill....
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
FIFY
flynnibus
Premium Member
Since budget is top of people's minds... I went back to watch the Aug 23 meeting which I really didn't get to watch live, and wanted to compare with the prior meeting where Garcia had made his comments about police spending, etc that wasn't even part of their budget.
Back in the July meeting, the board had to approve a millage rate because Florida's transparency laws require them to send out TRIM notices 30 days after the county property assessor publishes the year's property values. The value set for those notices is supposed to be the max the taxer will set. Staff reported using a higher rate would require 'extraordinary notice'.
I think Garcia or his goons read the thread because I mentioned about their voting with such a brief amount of detail, and in the Aug meeting he went out of his way to say they had already seen all this material and spent a lot of time with it
So let's start with all the misleading stuff they spew
July Meeting
- Garcia goes on about saving money in the budget and highlights spending on security specifically for Disney properties. 8M in spending that turns out, isn't even IN HIS BUDGET. He's referring to spending by the Cities IN THEIR OWN BUDGETS. So again, waving numbers around that aren't even in the context of the District's spending.
Aug Meeting
- The District's 'CEO' lead the budget presentation by claiming they were 'reducing collections 13.8Million' and eliminating 2.8Million in 'inappropriate spending'... claiming they were saving 16.6 million from the budget... and claimed it could have been 21.1Million if it weren't for having to pay for the lawyers.
This claim is total #$% - The only real reduction in that conversation is their elimination of 2.8Million. The 'reduction in collections' is the net change of their tax rate.. not an actual reduction in SPENDING. It's like a mechanic telling you "Oh I saved you $500 because I didn't raise my rates.. but I could have". It's not a reduction compared to what you actually faced... it's a made up comparison of what 'could have been'.
In truth, the budget calls for 2.7% net increase in spending - They didn't reduce spending, they took from some pots and added to others. The lower millage rate is due to assessments growing combined with their internal cuts. Their actual tax collections will increase over 9 million compared to FY23... even with the reduced millage rate.
- The irony is they eliminated their publicity budget - but are having to increase their spending in Public Affairs, in part due to all the extra FOIA requests they are getting (a sign of too much negative attention).
- Many departments were facing single digit reductions vs prior years, including from reduction of staff. It's hard to track completely because they also were moving headcount between departments. (Notably several OUT of the Fire Dept). Notable in capital projects was the Planning & Engineering dept which managed to keep expenses down by using the option to do 'less paving rehab'
- They make the budget a political topic by trying to finger point at Disney... literally calling out in the presentation 'Disney Incurred Expenses'
Where they highlight spending 1.9M this year on legal, and budgeting for 4.5M next year. Seems awful low to me to expect their actual expenses over the full year and over multiple suits to only climb that little.
And lastly... riddle me this... They point out that the Disney pass perks were costing the district 2.5 Million. They also claim to have over 400 employees. Their solution is to gross up everyone's pay $1425. So in their quest to be good fiscal stewards they are going to spend over $5.7million... to 'save' 2.5Million to eliminate an 'inequitable' benefit that no one was complaining about.
It's also worthy of note that Garcia when addressing the change in benefits... basically pointed to the Fire Fighters contract specifically and was basically saying "we'll let the lawyers fight it out.. you got good lawyers and you negotiated this point specifically... so we'll see how that plays out" -- leaving a door open for maybe some perks continuing there... but for all the other employees it was more a 'policy' decision.
Makes you wonder if the other trade unions had verbiage in their contracts about the district's benefits. But they sure make it sound like the clause was specifically added in this latest FireFighter's union negotiation.
Back in the July meeting, the board had to approve a millage rate because Florida's transparency laws require them to send out TRIM notices 30 days after the county property assessor publishes the year's property values. The value set for those notices is supposed to be the max the taxer will set. Staff reported using a higher rate would require 'extraordinary notice'.
I think Garcia or his goons read the thread because I mentioned about their voting with such a brief amount of detail, and in the Aug meeting he went out of his way to say they had already seen all this material and spent a lot of time with it
So let's start with all the misleading stuff they spew
July Meeting
- Garcia goes on about saving money in the budget and highlights spending on security specifically for Disney properties. 8M in spending that turns out, isn't even IN HIS BUDGET. He's referring to spending by the Cities IN THEIR OWN BUDGETS. So again, waving numbers around that aren't even in the context of the District's spending.
Aug Meeting
- The District's 'CEO' lead the budget presentation by claiming they were 'reducing collections 13.8Million' and eliminating 2.8Million in 'inappropriate spending'... claiming they were saving 16.6 million from the budget... and claimed it could have been 21.1Million if it weren't for having to pay for the lawyers.
This claim is total #$% - The only real reduction in that conversation is their elimination of 2.8Million. The 'reduction in collections' is the net change of their tax rate.. not an actual reduction in SPENDING. It's like a mechanic telling you "Oh I saved you $500 because I didn't raise my rates.. but I could have". It's not a reduction compared to what you actually faced... it's a made up comparison of what 'could have been'.
In truth, the budget calls for 2.7% net increase in spending - They didn't reduce spending, they took from some pots and added to others. The lower millage rate is due to assessments growing combined with their internal cuts. Their actual tax collections will increase over 9 million compared to FY23... even with the reduced millage rate.
- The irony is they eliminated their publicity budget - but are having to increase their spending in Public Affairs, in part due to all the extra FOIA requests they are getting (a sign of too much negative attention).
- Many departments were facing single digit reductions vs prior years, including from reduction of staff. It's hard to track completely because they also were moving headcount between departments. (Notably several OUT of the Fire Dept). Notable in capital projects was the Planning & Engineering dept which managed to keep expenses down by using the option to do 'less paving rehab'
- They make the budget a political topic by trying to finger point at Disney... literally calling out in the presentation 'Disney Incurred Expenses'
Where they highlight spending 1.9M this year on legal, and budgeting for 4.5M next year. Seems awful low to me to expect their actual expenses over the full year and over multiple suits to only climb that little.
And lastly... riddle me this... They point out that the Disney pass perks were costing the district 2.5 Million. They also claim to have over 400 employees. Their solution is to gross up everyone's pay $1425. So in their quest to be good fiscal stewards they are going to spend over $5.7million... to 'save' 2.5Million to eliminate an 'inequitable' benefit that no one was complaining about.
It's also worthy of note that Garcia when addressing the change in benefits... basically pointed to the Fire Fighters contract specifically and was basically saying "we'll let the lawyers fight it out.. you got good lawyers and you negotiated this point specifically... so we'll see how that plays out" -- leaving a door open for maybe some perks continuing there... but for all the other employees it was more a 'policy' decision.
Makes you wonder if the other trade unions had verbiage in their contracts about the district's benefits. But they sure make it sound like the clause was specifically added in this latest FireFighter's union negotiation.
I would love it if you could send your observations to the various media outlets so that maybe they could report on all of the lies and inconsistencies of the board and ”CEO”.Since budget is top of people's minds... I went back to watch the Aug 23 meeting which I really didn't get to watch live, and wanted to compare with the prior meeting where Garcia had made his comments about police spending, etc that wasn't even part of their budget.
Back in the July meeting, the board had to approve a millage rate because Florida's transparency laws require them to send out TRIM notices 30 days after the county property assessor publishes the year's property values. The value set for those notices is supposed to be the max the taxer will set. Staff reported using a higher rate would require 'extraordinary notice'.
I think Garcia or his goons read the thread because I mentioned about their voting with such a brief amount of detail, and in the Aug meeting he went out of his way to say they had already seen all this material and spent a lot of time with it
So let's start with all the misleading stuff they spew
July Meeting
- Garcia goes on about saving money in the budget and highlights spending on security specifically for Disney properties. 8M in spending that turns out, isn't even IN HIS BUDGET. He's referring to spending by the Cities IN THEIR OWN BUDGETS. So again, waving numbers around that aren't even in the context of the District's spending.
Aug Meeting
- The District's 'CEO' lead the budget presentation by claiming they were 'reducing collections 13.8Million' and eliminating 2.8Million in 'inappropriate spending'... claiming they were saving 16.6 million from the budget... and claimed it could have been 21.1Million if it weren't for having to pay for the lawyers.
This claim is total #$% - The only real reduction in that conversation is their elimination of 2.8Million. The 'reduction in collections' is the net change of their tax rate.. not an actual reduction in SPENDING. It's like a mechanic telling you "Oh I saved you $500 because I didn't raise my rates.. but I could have". It's not a reduction compared to what you actually faced... it's a made up comparison of what 'could have been'.
In truth, the budget calls for 2.7% net increase in spending - They didn't reduce spending, they took from some pots and added to others. The lower millage rate is due to assessments growing combined with their internal cuts. Their actual tax collections will increase over 9 million compared to FY23... even with the reduced millage rate.
- The irony is they eliminated their publicity budget - but are having to increase their spending in Public Affairs, in part due to all the extra FOIA requests they are getting (a sign of too much negative attention).
- Many departments were facing single digit reductions vs prior years, including from reduction of staff. It's hard to track completely because they also were moving headcount between departments. (Notably several OUT of the Fire Dept). Notable in capital projects was the Planning & Engineering dept which managed to keep expenses down by using the option to do 'less paving rehab'
- They make the budget a political topic by trying to finger point at Disney... literally calling out in the presentation 'Disney Incurred Expenses'
View attachment 740378
Where they highlight spending 1.9M this year on legal, and budgeting for 4.5M next year. Seems awful low to me to expect their actual expenses over the full year and over multiple suits to only climb that little.
And lastly... riddle me this... They point out that the Disney pass perks were costing the district 2.5 Million. They also claim to have over 400 employees. Their solution is to gross up everyone's pay $1425. So in their quest to be good fiscal stewards they are going to spend over $5.7million... to 'save' 2.5Million to eliminate an 'inequitable' benefit that no one was complaining about.
It's also worthy of note that Garcia when addressing the change in benefits... basically pointed to the Fire Fighters contract specifically and was basically saying "we'll let the lawyers fight it out.. you got good lawyers and you negotiated this point specifically... so we'll see how that plays out" -- leaving a door open for maybe some perks continuing there... but for all the other employees it was more a 'policy' decision.
Makes you wonder if the other trade unions had verbiage in their contracts about the district's benefits. But they sure make it sound like the clause was specifically added in this latest FireFighter's union negotiation.
Good catch on the moving headcounts between departments. That’s how they are getting away with paying these ridiculous salaries for Glen’s executive assistant, the new chief of staff and the new director of external affairs. But not having those salaries show up under the administration department.
Disney Changes Gears in Suits Against DeSantis and Allies
Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president, have been sparring for more than a year over a special tax district that encompasses Disney World.
By Brooks Barnes
Sept. 1, 2023Updated 2:44 p.m. ET
After a setback, Disney has changed its legal strategy in Florida, where the company is battling Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies in court for control over Disney World’s growth plan.
Disney is not, however, heeding Mr. DeSantis’s recent call to “drop the lawsuit.” Instead, on Friday it pushed back on two fronts — narrowing the scope of its federal case to focus on the charge that Mr. DeSantis and his allies violated its First Amendment rights, and threatening new suits to gain access to public records.
Disney and Mr. DeSantis, who is running for president, have been sparring for more than a year over a special tax district that encompasses Disney World. Angered over Disney’s criticism of a Florida education law, Mr. DeSantis took over the tax district, appointing a new board and ending the company’s long-held ability to self-govern its 25,000-acre resort as if it were a county. Before the takeover took effect, however, Disney signed contracts to lock in development plans — worth some $17 billion over the next decade.
An effort by Mr. DeSantis and his allies to void the contracts resulted in dueling lawsuits, with Disney suing Mr. DeSantis and the tax district in federal court and the new appointees returning fire in state court.
The state judge, Margaret Schreiber, dealt Disney an early setback in July. She denied its motion to dismiss the countersuit ruling that Disney could not shut down the state case and focus on the overlapping federal one. She also refused to put the state case on hold until the federal lawsuit was decided.
On Aug. 14, Mr. DeSantis told CNBC that Disney should drop the federal lawsuit. “They’re going to lose,” he said. “Let’s move forward.”
Rather than retreating, Disney is changing gears — essentially conceding that it will have to simultaneously wage two court battles.
On Friday, the company filed a motion to amend its multipart federal complaint, which is pending before Judge Allen Winsor in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee. The amendment would remove parts of the complaint specifically related to the validity of the development contracts — which is what the state case covers — while leaving intact Disney’s core accusation that Mr. DeSantis and his allies violated the company’s First Amendment rights with “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
Mr. DeSantis moved to take over the Disney World tax district after Disney criticized the Parental Rights in Education law, which opponents labeled “Don’t Say Gay” and which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students through the third grade. The DeSantis administration later expanded the ban through Grade 12.
Disney’s motion said it was seeking to amend the federal complaint “in order to spare the inefficiency of litigating contract validity simultaneously in two forums.”
Later on Friday, Judge Winsor denied Disney’s motion to amend the complaint, citing a procedural flaw. Rules require the company to first confer with the defendants about an amendment, the judge said. If there is an objection, Disney may then refile the motion. If there is no objection, no motion is necessary for the amendment.
Disney also disclosed on Friday that Mr. DeSantis and six state entities had not complied with public records requests made in May by the company’s lawyers as part of the discovery process in the court cases. This week, Disney sent letters to the governor’s office and the other state entities, saying that the company would sue each under Florida’s public records act unless the requested materials were made available by Sept. 6.
“It has now been nearly four months since our request, and we have yet to receive any of the requested records or any substantive response asserting valid exemptions,” Adam Losey, an Orlando lawyer working for Disney, wrote in the letters, one of which was viewed by The New York Times.
Disney has requested “all documents and communications, including but not limited to text messages, Signal messages and WhatsApp messages on any devices” with the keywords “Disney” or “mouse,” among many others, according to the letter.
A spokesman for the governor’s office had no immediate comment.
Since budget is top of people's minds... I went back to watch the Aug 23 meeting which I really didn't get to watch live, and wanted to compare with the prior meeting where Garcia had made his comments about police spending, etc that wasn't even part of their budget.
Back in the July meeting, the board had to approve a millage rate because Florida's transparency laws require them to send out TRIM notices 30 days after the county property assessor publishes the year's property values. The value set for those notices is supposed to be the max the taxer will set. Staff reported using a higher rate would require 'extraordinary notice'.
I think Garcia or his goons read the thread because I mentioned about their voting with such a brief amount of detail, and in the Aug meeting he went out of his way to say they had already seen all this material and spent a lot of time with it
So let's start with all the misleading stuff they spew
July Meeting
- Garcia goes on about saving money in the budget and highlights spending on security specifically for Disney properties. 8M in spending that turns out, isn't even IN HIS BUDGET. He's referring to spending by the Cities IN THEIR OWN BUDGETS. So again, waving numbers around that aren't even in the context of the District's spending.
Aug Meeting
- The District's 'CEO' lead the budget presentation by claiming they were 'reducing collections 13.8Million' and eliminating 2.8Million in 'inappropriate spending'... claiming they were saving 16.6 million from the budget... and claimed it could have been 21.1Million if it weren't for having to pay for the lawyers.
This claim is total #$% - The only real reduction in that conversation is their elimination of 2.8Million. The 'reduction in collections' is the net change of their tax rate.. not an actual reduction in SPENDING. It's like a mechanic telling you "Oh I saved you $500 because I didn't raise my rates.. but I could have". It's not a reduction compared to what you actually faced... it's a made up comparison of what 'could have been'.
In truth, the budget calls for 2.7% net increase in spending - They didn't reduce spending, they took from some pots and added to others. The lower millage rate is due to assessments growing combined with their internal cuts. Their actual tax collections will increase over 9 million compared to FY23... even with the reduced millage rate.
- The irony is they eliminated their publicity budget - but are having to increase their spending in Public Affairs, in part due to all the extra FOIA requests they are getting (a sign of too much negative attention).
- Many departments were facing single digit reductions vs prior years, including from reduction of staff. It's hard to track completely because they also were moving headcount between departments. (Notably several OUT of the Fire Dept). Notable in capital projects was the Planning & Engineering dept which managed to keep expenses down by using the option to do 'less paving rehab'
- They make the budget a political topic by trying to finger point at Disney... literally calling out in the presentation 'Disney Incurred Expenses'
View attachment 740378
Where they highlight spending 1.9M this year on legal, and budgeting for 4.5M next year. Seems awful low to me to expect their actual expenses over the full year and over multiple suits to only climb that little.
And lastly... riddle me this... They point out that the Disney pass perks were costing the district 2.5 Million. They also claim to have over 400 employees. Their solution is to gross up everyone's pay $1425. So in their quest to be good fiscal stewards they are going to spend over $5.7million... to 'save' 2.5Million to eliminate an 'inequitable' benefit that no one was complaining about.
It's also worthy of note that Garcia when addressing the change in benefits... basically pointed to the Fire Fighters contract specifically and was basically saying "we'll let the lawyers fight it out.. you got good lawyers and you negotiated this point specifically... so we'll see how that plays out" -- leaving a door open for maybe some perks continuing there... but for all the other employees it was more a 'policy' decision.
Makes you wonder if the other trade unions had verbiage in their contracts about the district's benefits. But they sure make it sound like the clause was specifically added in this latest FireFighter's union negotiation.
One note re. the contracts: I found an older contract for the firefighters and it contained the same term re. the Disney benefits as the new contract. I assume RCID had included it in every labour contract because they couldn't guarantee that Disney (a third party) would continue to offer the program to district employees. To me, it still seems pretty shady to cancel them very shortly after you spent months negotiating the contract without mentioning any planned change.
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Rich Brownn
Well-Known Member
Since they pay taxes to the district, they have no say in how the funds are distributed. That's part of the issue. Otherwise Disney has to just roll over and let the Gov do what he wants.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Understood. So really its the district that actually suffers when money that should go to support the district operations are going to lawyers. Its truly sad.