LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Thursday morning in Lake Buena Vista to mark one year since he signed a bill to abolish Disney’s special taxing district in Orange and Osceola counties.
Speaking at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) Administration Building — the former seat of the defunct Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) that DeSantis saw redeveloped into the CFTOD — the governor praised his hand-picked board and the changes it’s made, most of all the commissioning of an audit accusing RCID of poor governance practices and Disney favoritism.
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“The amount of special treatment and exemptions under that old Reedy Creek was unbelievable. I mean, if you’re Universal Studios or SeaWorld, you operate under a much different set of laws than what you were operating here with the Disney corporation, so that’s clearly an anomaly to not have people, especially in the same industry, treated the same way,” DeSantis said. “So there was exemption from Sunshine Laws, exemption from regulatory reviews, obviously major tax breaks, no Florida Building and Fire Code, all these things. (...) It was clearly not a situation where it was emblematic of good transparent government.”
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In the audit, released in December 2023 by the CFTOD, the section “New Board Governance Policies and Other New Board Actions” boasts approximately $50 million awarded by the district in contracts, including $14 million from vendors new to the district, and a $3.5 million savings to at least 57 non-Disney taxpayers within the district following a 6.8% decrease of the property tax rate approved in July.
DeSantis at the news conference claimed the total combined savings to the taxpayers has been approximately $18.4 million, including $13.8 million in property tax savings and $4.6 million in procurement savings. $1.5 million in taxpayer savings was also mentioned, what DeSantis associated with the CFTOD’s “BUY LOCAL NOW” procurement program that he said has reportedly resulted in $9.6 million in local contracts.
Regarding code, RCID developed its own starting in 1970 to pioneer new installations such as thrill rides and amusement attractions, what’s since led to district projects leading in “innovative construction,” according to what’s now the CFTOD’s website.
Though the audit admonishes the previous board’s adoption of its own codes and standards exclusive to Florida’s, noted revisions since the CFTOD takeover include “Retaining the (new) District’s power to adopt its own planning, zoning, building, and safety codes,” just as the RCID operated.
Read the audit below:
CFTOD by Brandon Hogan on Scribd
DeSantis signed HB-9B on Feb. 27, 2023, declaring Disney’s “corporate kingdom” had come to an end. However, with the CFTOD’s discovery shortly thereafter of a last-minute development agreement which sought to bar the new tourism board for decades from making changes to properties without Disney’s approval, the ball was back in Florida’s court. From there, it’s been served back and forth unto now.
Most recently, DeSantis in late January prevailed in a court battle brought by the Walt Disney Company, a federal judge granting the state’s motion to dismiss a free speech lawsuit accusing the governor of retaliation over the company’s criticism of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law after he signed a bill transferring control of Disney’s long-standing special taxing district — formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District — to a state-appointed board.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor ruled Disney did not have standing to sue the governor and can’t challenge a facially constitutional action by claiming such a motive. Disney appealed the decision the next day.
Watch Thursday’s news conference again in the media player below:
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