Disney's Debt is about to Be Central Florida Taxpayers' Problem

[Norbert]

On Wednesday, the Florida Senate voted 23 to 16 to eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, dealing a major blow to Disney and by extension, taxpayers in Central Florida.

The district has about a billion dollars in outstanding bonds that need to be dealt with. That burden, as state lawmakers admitted, will fall on local taxpayers.

“The procedures that we have will transfer that indebtedness to the general-purpose local governments,” said Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R–Clay County), the bill’s sponsor in the Florida Senate.

The billion dollars in bonds that Reedy Creek holds will mature as late as 2036. About 20% are revenue bonds, which will be backed by payments for services like utilities. The remaining 80% are general obligation bonds, backed by faith and credit in the district, which is on the verge of dissolution.

“Those are issued to creditors on the promise that the district will continue to exist and will be able to pay those obligations, of course, state law says that those bonds will be assumed by the counties but just because state law says that you really must dig in to see what is in those agreements,” said Joe Bishop-Henchman, vice president of policy at the National Taxpayers Union. “You don’t really know what’s in the fine print of all of these agreements.”

In 2008 when AIG went out of business, its bonds had to be paid immediately. The bonds that were taken out by Reedy Creek could be the same, and if so, that payment would fall on the county.

“If Reedy Creek goes away, the $105 million it collects to operate services goes away,” wrote Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph. “That doesn’t just transfer to Orange County because it’s an independent taxing district. However, Orange County then inherits all debt and obligations with no extra funds.”

Under state law, Orange County is not allowed to tax Disney extra unless it creates a new special district for Disney. However, to do this, the county would need the property owners inside of Disney (the company) to agree to take back the debt.

If the bond debt falls on Orange County, residents can expect to acquire between $2,200 to $2,800 in extra debt for a family of four.

We will see what a great idea owning the Libs and Disney is if these people are on the hook for a chunk of Disney tax money.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/disney-s-debt-is-about-to-be-central-florida-taxpayers-problem/ar-AAWpBmJ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=a57dd3e1dba6416f91d5a2c140885924

[Celerity]

1. Floriduh, living down to the name yet again. What a shithole swamp the RW

is fashioning for the long, turgid haul.

[haele]

2. Blue district, he's punishing them

The GOP doesn't care about helping citizens, they are concerned about inflicting pain on their "enemies" and rewarding their supporters.

Haele

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. I like this amendment

Link to tweet

[Demovictory9]

4. Disney was busy transferring parts of their option from CA to FL, I wonder if they will reconsider

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Ron DeSantis' Disney Revenge Could Cost Florida Residents $1 Billion

In Texas, when a city incorporates unincorporated territory, the city assumes and discharges the MUD municipal utility district debt. This is the same concept

Link to tweet

Residents of two Florida counties could end up footing the bill if the state abolishes a special district that has allowed the Walt Disney Company to operate its own local government.....

Farmer, who sponsored the bill, discussed the potential impact on Orange and Osceola counties' residents, saying the population would amount to around 1.75 million people.

"The debt service alone for Reedy Creek is over $1 billion," Farmer said. "This bill makes no provision as to how that debt service is going to be assumed."

The Democrat pointed to another law that said that local government entities would have to pick up the debt of special districts that are dissolved.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District has a long-term bonded debt of $977,215,801, according to its 2021 annual financial report.....

"So this is not supposition, this is not conjecture, this is Florida law that says those 1.7 million people are going to have to pick up this bill," Farmer said, adding that the $1 billion figure doesn't include other items covered by the district, citing fire fighter services and parking garages, among other services.

"All totaled, we're probably talking about $1.5 to $2 billion of obligation - of liabilities," Farmer said.

He went to say that "the debt service alone would amount to $580 per person."

[ZonkerHarris]

6. taxes will go up and Disney will wind up laying off tons of folks too. Good job Ron!