The Huffington Post is out with a piece that points to fine print in the war between the Florida Republican Governor and Disney…
The state lawmakers gave Ron DeSantis a win….
But at what cost?
Higher taxes to counties close Disney such as Orange and Osceola, in the case of Disney and Reedy Creek….
Wait?
A Republican Governor RAISING TAXES??????
And Disney STILL gets over to boot!
They are fixing the issue that they over looked in their haste to make it appaear they where screwing Disney, which they didn’t in th end….
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is one signature away from defusing a $1.2 billion tax bomb he himself activated a year ago when he rammed through legislation aimed at punishing the Walt Disney Co. for criticizing his “Don’t say gay” law a month earlier.
A new bill passed the Florida Legislature on Feb. 10 that renames the taxing district that governs Disney’s expansive Central Florida parcel and gives the Republican governor the power to name its board while largely leaving the district’s financial structure untouched.
More important to local property owners ― and DeSantis’ likely 2024 presidential run ― is that it repeals last year’s hastily passed law that would transfer Reedy Creek Improvement District’s accumulated $1.2 billion in bond debt onto Orange and Osceola counties were it take effect on schedule on June 1. The 700,000 or homeowners and businesses would have seen their property tax bills increase by thousands of dollars each through 2038, when Disney’s bonds would finally be repaid.
…
It’s unclear whether DeSantis and his aides, in the heat of his verbal battle last spring with Disney, understood the consequences that abolishing Reedy Creek would have on area property taxes. “I can’t imagine he realized,” said Kevin Cate, a Democratic political consultant. “They shoot for Fox News first and aim later.”
Within days of the abolishment bill becoming law, DeSantis was already promising additional legislative action to work out the details ― suggesting that, by that point, at least, he understood that failing to take further action would be politically catastrophic.
…
Though the new law does eliminate Disney’s ability to build a nuclear power plant and an airport, the few actual tax breaks Disney does enjoy over competing theme parks in the area appear to remain untouched in the new legislation, which continues to grant the renamed district tax-exempt status. When Disney’s taxing district builds a parking garage for Disney guests, for example, it does not have to collect sales tax, but its competitors do….