Reedy Creek Improvement District

[Nick]

You know a bunch of people raring to be firefighters?
I would hope they can fully staff it but until they pay exceptional wages and opportunities for advancement I can only expect they will see the same staffing shortages most public service (police, fire, corrections) are experiencing. More money is the key but no politician ever advocated raising the funding for an entity because it was the moral and right thing to do.

Here's the thing: Reedy Creek isn't even trying to change the current RCFD structure despite the consistent complaints and warnings about safety. OCFD doesn't have to have this place sprawling with Fire fighters. They just need to pay attention to it and give it the resources it needs for a department that is deploying to a sprawling resort that sees hundreds of thousands combined attending parks during busy times and then you have the tens of thousands of CMs who travel to and from the resort each day who add to road traffic, which increases the risks of potential accidents. It is a critically important department that Reedy Creek refuses to fund further than they are.

 

[quinnmac000]

This article says everythng I want to say. @Nick despite the political title, it has very informative information regarding how Reedy Creek Works and how if this succeeds the impact it has to Orange and Osceola county.

Conservative Media Cheering DeSantis Crackdown on Disney Are Ignoring What a Catastrophe It Would Be for Florida

If successful, DeSantis will be not only reversing long-held conservative principles of protecting free speech and private property rights and unleashing colossal economic devastation on Central Florida's local governments and residents, with impacts rippling statewide.

www.mediaite.com

In addition to the free speech, property rights, and equal protection grounds, there is also the simple fact that repealing RCID without the consent of the voting landowners is prohibited by current state law.
The authority to vote for the RCID Board of Supervisors rests solely in a hand-selected group of senior Disney employees who are listed as the official landowners of several undeveloped parcels within the district, and they are not going to vote to dissolve RCID.
Section 189.072(2) of the Florida Statutes restricts how the legislature can dissolve an active independent special district like RCID, requiring the vote of “a majority of the landowners voting in the same manner by which the independent special district’s governing body is elected.” HC 3C begins “Notwithstanding s. 189.072(2),” so the bill drafters are clearly aware of this provision but there’s nothing in the short text of the bill that could overcome the rights of the RCID voting landowners.

That statutory provision was reassuring to Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore, who initially told me she was “stressed” and “horrified” by HB 3C “because we can’t handle it — we aren’t keeping up with Orlando development now.” Worrying about how to possibly take on RCID was “a distraction to the business we need to be doing,” she added, pointing out Central Florida’s ongoing challenges with transportation and affordable housing.
After speaking with a county attorney, however, she relaxed somewhat, calling me back to say that the attorney was “pretty confident” that Disney could prevail in court based on that statute.
Still, court cases take time, and the short time period — just over one year — after which HB 3C would abolish RCID left very little time to prepare. Disney had “completely different standards” than Orange County, said Moore, and if the county was going to take over RCID’s functions, enter into a new RCID-like arrangement with Disney, or some hybrid of the two, “we’d have to do a study, and that doesn’t happen overnight.”

 

[Happytycho]

Those garages are what secures the bonds that RCID collects fees and taxes from Disney to pay off. Ownership is not going anywhere per the underwriters and insurers of the bonds.
All it was is a large tax supported purse bought garages to facilitate commerce in a high dollar shopping zone. The state collects sales tax, I'm pretty sure RCID collects usage fees or something similar and gets a cut of the property taxes? Value is a bit more than if they had cows grazing there and a couple of people work in the area who pay their own fees and taxes with Disney or third party money paid to them and all that was generated by the construction and bonding to construct.
They are not going anywhere.

As best I can tell, RCID has basically two recurring sources of revenue - utility fees and property taxes - and two corresponding types of bonds: utility fee backed and general revenue. The general revenue bonds comprise the majority of the District's debt, and are backed solely by the collection of district property taxes. I don't see anything in the bond documents that would prohibit RCID from selling off the garages for pennies on the dollar.

Bigger picture, what makes this situation really messy - and I haven't seen talked about much - is that the developable lands of RCID are entirely overlapped by the cities of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, which Disney also has effective control over. As municipalities, these cities have a broad slate of powers that includes most of the useful powers currently utilized by RCID. My understanding is that even in the absence of RCID, the cities could still assert power over things like building regulation in the same way that the City of Orlando regulates building at Universal rather than deferring that power to the county. I believe that similar ideas apply to many utilities and other public services currently provided through RCID.

So a potential problem for the next 14 months (if Disney isn't successful in court) will be to figure out what elements of RCID services Disney might want to retain control of through the cities and how that translates into dividing the current assets and liabilities of RCID.

 

[Nick]

In addition to the free speech, property rights, and equal protection grounds, there is also the simple fact that repealing RCID without the consent of the voting landowners is prohibited by current state law.
The authority to vote for the RCID Board of Supervisors rests solely in a hand-selected group of senior Disney employees who are listed as the official landowners of several undeveloped parcels within the district, and they are not going to vote to dissolve RCID.
Section 189.072(2) of the Florida Statutes restricts how the legislature can dissolve an active independent special district like RCID, requiring the vote of “a majority of the landowners voting in the same manner by which the independent special district’s governing body is elected.” HC 3C begins “Notwithstanding s. 189.072(2),” so the bill drafters are clearly aware of this provision but there’s nothing in the short text of the bill that could overcome the rights of the RCID voting landowners.

That statutory provision was reassuring to Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore, who initially told me she was “stressed” and “horrified” by HB 3C “because we can’t handle it — we aren’t keeping up with Orlando development now.” Worrying about how to possibly take on RCID was “a distraction to the business we need to be doing,” she added, pointing out Central Florida’s ongoing challenges with transportation and affordable housing.
After speaking with a county attorney, however, she relaxed somewhat, calling me back to say that the attorney was “pretty confident” that Disney could prevail in court based on that statute.
Still, court cases take time, and the short time period — just over one year — after which HB 3C would abolish RCID left very little time to prepare. Disney had “completely different standards” than Orange County, said Moore, and if the county was going to take over RCID’s functions, enter into a new RCID-like arrangement with Disney, or some hybrid of the two, “we’d have to do a study, and that doesn’t happen overnight.”

I've been saying this about the landowners and no one seems to believe me that it's illegal simply based on that alone, so this article, while I wish it didn't have the polarizing headline, does have some great information about RFID from all political sides.

 

[Evan]

I've been saying this about the landowners and no one seems to believe me that it's illegal simply based on that alone, so this article, while I wish it didn't have the polarizing headline, does have some great information about RFID from all political sides.

I also really appreciate how it spoke about all those employed and how they are compensated better then others in the counties, making that even trickier.

 

[Nick]

Also, RCID manages the newer, 270-acre solar field close to the edge of Western Way. Do we really think that with all of the things that Orange County is behind on doing and funding at the moment that they are going to want to take on and manage those solar fields? That means putting the resources and manpower into maintaining the facilities, which they are already having trouble with elsewhere in the county.

As the Orange County Commissioner said in that article, since there is only a 14-month window and the justice system moves slowly, it's very possible that there's a window of time where Orange County will have to take over for at least a period of time next year.

I think the best thing she mentioned that Orange County can do right now is to set up an RCID like sub-district and thus, everything stays the same, taxes don't increase (by too much at least), and the stress on OC is minimal. I mean hell, at this point give Universal their own similar district and let the county focus on actually being able IMPROVE the county as a whole. They don't need to be worrying about theme parks resorts.

 

[Happytycho]

Also, RCID manages the newer, 270-acre solar field close to the edge of Western Way. Do we really think that with all of the things that Orange County is behind on doing and funding at the moment that they are going to want to take on and manage those solar fields? That means putting the resources and manpower into maintaining the facilities, which they are already having trouble with elsewhere in the county.

As the Orange County Commissioner said in that article, since there is only a 14-month window and the justice system moves slowly, it's very possible that there's a window of time where Orange County will have to take over for at least a period of time next year.

I think the best thing she mentioned that Orange County can do right now is to set up an RCID like sub-district and thus, everything stays the same, taxes don't increase (by too much at least), and the stress on OC is minimal. I mean hell, at this point give Universal their own similar district and let the county focus on actually being able IMPROVE the county as a whole. They don't need to be worrying about theme parks resorts.

Does RCID actually manage that solar farm? I was under the impression it was run by someone else with RCID only providing the land and a commitment to purchase the power.

And even among RCID owned but contractually operated stuff the solar farm won't be very high on a list of concerns because that list also includes other sources of power generation, electrical distribution, water supply and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, reclaimed water distribution, methane gas distribution, and more.

More broadly, there's very little that Orange County can unilaterally do to make this whole situation less bad for themselves. Meanwhile, there's a lot Disney can do to control how bad this is for Orange County, along with affecting what the impacts to Disney are. If this goes through to implementation Disney holds almost all the cards and it's way too early to know how they will want to handle the situation.

 

[Nick]

Does RCID actually manage that solar farm? I was under the impression it was run by someone else with RCID only providing the land and a commitment to purchase the power.

And even among RCID owned but contractually operated stuff the solar farm won't be very high on a list of concerns because that list also includes other sources of power generation, electrical distribution, water supply and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, reclaimed water distribution, methane gas distribution, and more.

More broadly, there's very little that Orange County can unilaterally do to make this whole situation less bad for themselves. Meanwhile, there's a lot Disney can do to control how bad this is for Orange County, along with affecting what the impacts to Disney are. If this goes through to implementation Disney holds almost all the cards and it's way too early to know how they will want to handle the situation.

Yeah, I guess Origis was contracted and they actually own those panels.

And yes, there's probably a lot Disney can do by transferring certain things from being run by RCID to being run by Disney i'd guess, correct?

 

[belloq87]

All I'll say about this whole fracas is that I will be extremely surprised (shocked, even) if anything meaningful has changed in the RCID status quo by June of 2023, or beyond.

 

[shiekra38]

When I'm governor, I will create a special tax district for Universal and SeaWorld

Disney can keep RCID and build their woke nuclear plant

Oh, and I will also pay teachers less

 

[Nick]

Yay debt!


Dissolving the district would mean Reedy Creek employees and infrastructure would be absorbed by the local counties, which would then become responsible for all municipal services. The counties would collect the tax revenue Disney currently pays the Reedy Creek district, but would also be saddled with the district’s liabilities. Namely, its debt.

Reedy Creek historically operates at a loss of around $5 million to $10 million each year, according to its financial reports. But since Disney can subsidize its own operations with theme park revenue, that debt doesn’t have much impact on its bottom line.

According to lawmakers, there’s around $1 billion in debt on the balance sheet that taxpayers would become responsible for should the special district get absorbed, leading to higher taxes.

“No one wants to take that amount of debt up,” Linda Stewart, a Democrat who represents Florida’s 13th Senate district, told CNBC on Wednesday. “None of this makes any sense. They just bit off way more than they can chew by trying to get the Reedy Creek district dissolved ... This is a major, major issue that I don’t think it will be, in the end, very successful.”

 

[anihilnation]

Any word on Disney's next move? Guess this will also give them yet another excuse to raise ticket prices.

 

[Nick]

Any word on Disney's next move? Guess this will also give them yet another excuse to raise ticket prices.

I’d be surprised if Disney doesn’t file a lawsuit soon.

 

[rageofthegods]

Disney could do so much to fight back and bring the pain (e.g. donate to political rivals, tie them up in court, cancel their job relocation plan, distribute pamphlets to Orange and Osceola County residents explaining *exactly* how and why the governor is making their property taxes go up next year, etc.) but that's predicated on having a CEO who isn't a coward, and whose mealy-mouthed attempts at appeasement didn't get them into this mess in the first place. I expect Disney to strike some backroom deal that'll get this whole thing quietly dropped in a budget bill. I'm sure they'll restart political donations in the next year too.

EDIT: it's honestly fascinating watching Disney's flatfooted response here considering that they were perfectly fine going scorched-earth on Scarlett Johansson.

 

[quinnmac000]

They probably are going to wait until closer to the election....Disney's legal team and government affairs likely know this all a political football with the florida gubernatorial election this year and don't want to mess with or give those people hurting them more attention just yet.

They already have florida convoy people trying to block roads into Disney springs...

 

[Nick]

They probably are going to wait until closer to the election....Disney's legal team and government affairs likely know this all a political football with the florida gubernatorial election this year and don't want to mess with or give those people hurting them more attention just yet.

They already have florida convoy people trying to block roads into Disney springs...

The thing is, the Justice system takes time and they might need all of those 14-months and then some to go through legal action. If they wait too long, RCID will fall into Orange and Osceola's hands (at least for a period of time) almost without a doubt, which will be a period of disaster for the two counties.

 

[Tobias]

I’d be surprised if Disney doesn’t file a lawsuit soon.

They were pretty much gifted a 1A Lawsuit on a silver platter, so I can see the Disney lawyers taking advantage of that.

 

[GAcoaster]

I'm assuming since we haven't heard an official response that Disney is exploring all the legalities and options. They may be hoping all this was just muscle flexing to distract from other politics and give DeSantis a bigger boost for his presidential run with his base, just to be forgotten about (since it doesn't seem like it is legal). My personal thought is it will all be smoothed over and forgotten before next June when it would theoretically go into effect.

Trying not to get more political, but the whole idea of punishing Orange and Osceola counties with additional debt may even be part of the plans of the governor and legislature. Politically these counties were never his supporters and our representatives are in the minority in the legislature. The current position of that party is to punish anyone who doesn't agree with them at any cost.

 

[shiekra38]

I'm assuming since we haven't heard an official response that Disney is exploring all the legalities and options. They may be hoping all this was just muscle flexing to distract from other politics and give DeSantis a bigger boost for his presidential run with his base, just to be forgotten about (since it doesn't seem like it is legal). My personal thought is it will all be smoothed over and forgotten before next June when it would theoretically go into effect.

I believe this is true as well. Perhaps RCID will be tweaked a bit, but I'm in the boat that this will go nowhere

 

[GAcoaster]

The fact they are blatantly saying it's retaliatory gives Disney a HUGE advantage in court.