Florida Senate Passes Bill to Eliminate Disney’s Special Tax District (middle east, 2014)

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by lifeexplorer

Could you please explain how they would even happen - Disney gets a tax cut and the Floridians get the bill? Nothing in your post or link explains anything.

When you post something like this, I would expect you have got the information to back it up.

If investors thought this move would reduce Disney's expenses, the stock would be popping not dropping.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Sadly, it is obvious on these threads that many are for the pedophiles. All I can say is God bless DeSantis, and I for one would be happy to see Disney fold. I grew up in Tampa and remember when this was about to be built. I even typed up a doctoral thesis for one of my professors on the effects of this project. I went ONCE in the 70s and have never been back, never saw the appeal. Long lines, lots of artificial fake sh*t, and high prices.

Pretty sure they won't fold but maybe there can be a change. Like someone above mentioned, maybe Elon Musk can buy it and turn it into something fantastic. In addition to the "woke crap" their prices are shameful.

I went 2 times. 1971 at age 8 and my school took us in 1975. I never cared to be around people or anything like these places as a kid or now.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by Eyebee Teepee

folks, a new playbook page has been disseminated.

FL, like (almost?) every state has started collecting sales tax from online purchases. I say almost because the article I just googled in 5 seconds said by 2020 all but 6 states had it. Obviously, it's at most 5 now.

So yes, Floridians can no longer order off Amazon and avoid sales tax.

Floridians were always responsible for reporting and paying use tax but few did and it was not practical to pursue individual consumers.



Florida ​​Sales and Use Tax

Sales Tax

Each sale, admission, storage, or rental in Florida is taxable, unless the transaction is exempt. Sales tax is added to the price of taxable goods or services and collected from the purchaser at the time of sale. Florida's general state sales tax rate is 6% with the following exceptions: 4% on amusement machine receipts, 5.5% on the lease or license of commercial real property, and 6.95% on electricity.
Use Tax

Use tax is due on the use or consumption of taxable goods or services when sales tax was not paid at the time of purchase. For example:

• If you buy a taxable item in Florida and did not pay sales tax, you owe use tax.
• If you buy an item tax exempt intending to resell it, and then use the item in your business or for personal use, you owe use tax.
• If you buy a taxable item outside Florida and bring it into (or have it delivered into) Florida, and you did not pay sales tax on the item, you owe use tax.

https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/tax...sales_tax.aspx

[MEGAlot]

Originally Posted by oceangaia

If investors thought this move would reduce Disney's expenses, the stock would be popping not dropping.

Disney's parks and experience products account for less than 1/5th of Disney's revenue. Florida, alone, accounts for less than 10%. The drop in stock is sentimental. Their media and entertainment industry holds much more YoY opportunity than their parks did.

[Frank DeForrest]

Originally Posted by gordo

You may think that DeSantis is perfectly fine to Florida but that is far from the case. Do not believe the narrative that DeSantis and his fellow power hungry politicians are giving out. Already there are those who are starting to see how harmful and dangerous DeSantis is to Florida.

Perhaps in the weeks ahead you will wake up and see what's happening as well.

I’ll bet you supported Trudeau freezing the bank accounts of protesting truckers and their supporters

[Variable]

Originally Posted by MEGAlot

Back to farmland? It was swampland.

....

It was a mix of farmland and marsh. Farmland was orange groves as well as pasture.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by MEGAlot

Disney's parks and experience products account for less than 1/5th of Disney's revenue. Florida, alone, accounts for less than 10%. The drop in stock is sentimental. Their media and entertainment industry holds much more YoY opportunity than their parks did.

Glad you've got it figured out and know better than the investors. You should swoop in Monday morning and buy it up.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by Variable

It was a mix of farmland and marsh. Farmland was orange groves as well as pasture.

Oranges are done in FL thanks to greening sickness.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Originally Posted by Take a History Class

What do you think the property tax assessment on Disney World and it's associated properties will be? The answer is...a lot.

Obviously you have not been paying attention in this topic and know nothing about the situation.

Disney has 14 different entities that pay property taxes based on assessments by the Orange County Appraiser Starting in 2015 and every year since then until 2021 Disney flied suits while paying the appropriate taxes. One of entities that TWDC sued was "the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a political subdivision of the State of Florida."

You can use this case, "WALT DISNEY PARKS AND RESORTS US, INC., a Florida corporation, Plaintiff, Case No.: vs. Division: RICK SINGH, as Property Appraiser; SCOTT RANDOLPH, as Tax Collector; REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, and LEON BIEGALSKI as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Revenue"

Disney won a settlement in the case in 2021 and had the excess taxes they paid refunded to them.

So no, Disney's property taxes will not be going up from where they are right now. They've just been established less than a year ago.

Originally Posted by Take a History Class

Disney wasn't exactly taxing itself to pay for the interest on it's outstanding debt, but it WAS taxing private property and businesses within Reedy Creek and then making up any shortfall. Now, Disney will be taxed too.

Disney has been paying taxes. They are already the single largest taxpayer in the state of Florida.

And what other "private property businesses" do you think there are in the Reedy Creek Improvement District?

Originally Posted by Take a History Class

Everybody needs a lesson in how municipal budgets work. They borrow money through issuing bonds and then pay those bonds with yearly tax income. Even small municipalities carry tens of millions in tax advantaged debt to keep the lights on and wheels turning.

Well someone certainly does. City. counties and states do not issue bonds to meet their city budgets. They pass bond issues for capital improvement projects or special projects.

Originally Posted by Take a History Class

The combined population of Orange and Osceola counties is just over 2 million. Miami-Dade has 2.7 million. Here is the outstanding debt of Miami-Dade, which counts in multiple billions of dollars. Some of their bond issues are in the $500 to $600 million dollar range and this document goes on for pages and pages, just to give you an idea of what it takes to provide such services to millions of people.

So? Orange and Osceola counties have bond issues too. You can go HERE and see all the bond issues from the County of Orange

Originally Posted by Take a History Class

I have personally been involved in a small scale example of what Disney is doing. My POA was run by the developer when I first moved in and hardly had any money because the developer was just making up any shortfalls rather than paying their dues on unimproved lots they owned. We had a minor controversy with some BLM flags and the developer decided to turn the board over to us and had to start paying their annual dues and low and behold we suddenly had a budget to work with.

Again, so? This makes no more sense than your previous point. Reedy Creek is a government entity controlled by a board and because they are a government agency, they are fully transparent. You can go HERE and look up their budgets, their fee structures, what they do and more.

Originally Posted by JimRom

You know all those sales taxes that Disney charged on everything? Yeah, those will go to the counties that Disney is located in now.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District has nothing to do with sales taxes. Disney already sends the sales tax revenue collected to the various state and county governments. Ditto for the hotel taxes. They go the appropriate county and state entities, nothing to do with Reedy Creek.

Originally Posted by JimRom

You know all that property that Disney owns? Yeah, that will be taxed by the counties Disney is located in now. Disney just became one of, if not the, largest taxpayers in the state.

You know all that property that Disney owns? Yeah, it is already taxed by the counties Disney is located in. Disney is already the largest taxpayers in the state

Originally Posted by JimRom

In short, there won't be a tax shortfall. If anything, the counties in which Disney resides will most likely be coming out ahead when it's all said and done.

In short, you are short on knowledge of the situation, that much is obvious.

Originally Posted by JimRom

The entire purpose of the Reedy Creek district was so that Disney could build a futuristic housing community on the land. They never did. Instead, they built Epcot. It's long past time that Disney pays "their fair share" of taxes.

The entire purpose of the Reedy Creek Improvement District was so that Disney would develop the 27,000 acres of swampland that they had acquired. Yes the original EPCOT was prominently discussed, but it was nothing that the RCID rose or fell on. Had it been, once Disney abandoned the concept then the state of Florida could have repealed the district. They didn't. They are thrilled with the trillions of dollars that Disney has invested in FL and the billions they bring in annually in revenue, both direct and indirect.

Originally Posted by Eyebee Teepee

if you haven't read the whole thread, where is the misconception about Disney paying taxes? Yes, Disney essentially operates as it's own city through the Reedy Creek ID. When it needs to fund "police" or EMS or medical care or water/sewer or roads (much of it on their private property), then it determines how much it wants to spend and it taxes itself.

You have no idea obviously how the Reedy Creek Improvement District operates, what their budget is, what they provide and how they are governed.

Originally Posted by Eyebee Teepee

When the city of Orlando does it's annual budget, it essentially does the same through its' City Manager and City Council. A budget is developed, and they decide what the tax rate on property needs to be, increase water/sewer/trash fees to pay for improvements, etc.The "town of Disney" - really Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista - has effectively 0 residents (the number is under 100 if I'm recalling what I posted in this thread).

The process you describe for Orlando is the exact same process the Reedy Creek Improvement District does. The next meeting of the RCID Board of Supervisors Meeting is next Wednesday (Apr 27) at 9:30AM at the RCID Administration Building in the 1st Floor Boardroom. The addresses is 1900 Hotel Plaza Blvd. Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830. Feel free to drop in and see how they do business.

Originally Posted by Eyebee Teepee

I'm well aware Disney wouldn't unilaterally get to decide to build a nuclear reactor.

Several others appear not to be so aware.

Originally Posted by Eyebee Teepee

Do we know how often Disney gets inspected for water quality, or for the operations of it's private water/sewer system?

Disney is inspected as often as any other entity and I would assume more often if there were scads of people getting sick from tainted water. But I rather think Disney likes their guests happy and healthy and takes are with their potable water.

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

While this certainly isn't an argument that I've centered on, my understanding of many of the arguments is that Disney/Rock Creek are merely authorized to build a nuclear power plant. State approval is already inherent in such a statement as such approval would have come with the legislation that created Rock Creek.

It is REEDY CREEK (really, how hard is it really). And no, the argument put forth by more than one person has been, "well Disney could build a nuclear power plant if they wanted" and that is simply not true.It is a FEDERAL responsibility to approve and license nuclear plants and there is noway for Disney or Reedy Creek around that.

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

Sure, Disney/Rock Creek couldn't build such a plant without the approval and oversight of the NRC, etc., but they still start from a better position on this front than the typical government organization in FL does I wager

A wager you would lose. Reedy Creek has no more, nor any less rights than any other governmental special district.

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

Of course--and more of a historical point--the NRC wasn't a thing when the Rock Creek district was authorized.

Ah. So you are saying prior anyone who wanted could build a nuclear power plant in the backyard.

Oh no wait, before the NRC there was the United States Atomic Energy Commission, which was fully in place when Reedy Creek was created.

Originally Posted by JimRom

It isn't my job to do your research. If you're in a thread debating a topic, you're expected to be aware of the history of that topic. Anyone with any knowledge of the history of Disney should be able to figure it out. Reedy Creek was a way to conglomerate all the land that Disney had clandestinely bought in '64-'65 and make it developable. The plan was for Magic Kingdom and Epcot City to be built on the land.

Uh no.

Reedy Creek was created by the state legislature and governor to encourage Disney to build on the 27,000 acres they had. Florida badly wanted a Disney presence in the state and knew that the Reedy Creek Improvement District would be a great tool to ensure Disney developed their acerage.

Originally Posted by JimRom

Have you never watched the promotional video that Walt Disney did about 2 months before his death in order to encourage people to contact their legislators and push for them to sign off on it? If not, you probably should. After you watch it, ask yourself if Disney is anything like what Walt envisioned for it.

I've seen every item ever done on WDW and it was in 1965 when the Disney brothers and Governor Haydon Burns announced the "Florida Project". The official Reedy Creek legislation wasn't signed until two years later, but it was a virtual fait acompli in 1965.

[Goodnight]

Originally Posted by Wapasha

Nothing says "power hungry" politicians better than the state government asking a multi billion dollar corporation to pay taxes like all the other businesses that operate in their state.

So this is about Disney not paying taxes, never heard that being the reason.