The new bill detailing the proposed changes to Walt Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District has been released to the public. While the 189-page document will take some time to process, we have compiled a list of the major or notable changes below.
No Dissolution
“Notwithstanding s. 189.0311(2), Florida Statutes, the Reedy Creek Improvement District is not dissolved as of June 1, 2023, but continues in full force and effect under its new name.”
New Name
It will be renamed the “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.” It will be permitted to operate as the Reedy Creek Improvement District as a “fictional name” for two years in order to make all necessary changes to documents, signs, contracts, bonds, accounts, and more.
Board of Supervisors
One proposal aims to create a board of supervisors to govern the district. The board will consist of five members, all appointed by the Florida Governor and confirmed by the Senate. No one who has worked for a theme park complex within three years will be permitted to serve, nor are landowners in the district permitted to serve.
No Nuclear Power
1967 – “Public Utilities – To own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend and improve electric power plants, transmission lines and related facilities, gas mains and facilities of any nature for the production or distribution of natural gas, telephone lines, plants and systems and other communications systems of any nature, transmission lines and related facilities and plants and facilities for the generation and transmission of power through nuclear fission and other new and experimental sources of power and energy; to purchase electric power, natural gas and other sources of power for distribution within the District; and to develop and operate such new and experimental public utilities, including but not limited to centrally distributed heating and air conditioning facilities and services, closed-circuit television systems, and computer services and facilities, as the Board of Supervisors may from time to time determine.”
2023 – “Public Utilities – To own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend, and improve electric power plants, solar energy generating systems, transmission lines and related facilities, gas mains and facilities of any nature for the production, handling, distribution, or sale of natural gas, centrally distributed heating and air conditioning facilities and services, telephone lines, wireless communications systems, internet, and fiber optic cables and lines, facilities, plants, and systems, and other communications systems of any nature, and to purchase and sell electric power, natural gas, and other sources of power for distribution within the district.”
Procedure for Changes to Powers and Authorities
The board of supervisors shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, within 1 year after the effective date of this act, and every 5 years thereafter, a report that includes a review of all remaining powers and authorities included herein and any recommendations for consideration of eliminating said powers and authorities for potential repeal by the Legislature. The bill also removes the district’s power to redraw its own boundaries without a special act of the Legislature.
Taxes
The bill states the intent to pay the existing debts and bonds by taxing the landowners (which is currently exclusively Disney). This is the same as the original act for the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1968.
The concerns over the local residents being taxed came from the original intent to dissolve the district. Since the district is not being dissolved, the debts and bonds remain the same.
Roads & Transit
The bill removes the district’s ability to charge tolls, the district’s exclusive authority to acquire, construct, and maintain public roads within the district, and the requirement that the district approve any location, design, and construction for access and connecting roads for State Road 530, State Road 525, and Interstate 4.
Airports & Recreational Facilities
The newly-reformed district would no longer have the power to operate certain types of facilities such as airports, civic centers, convention halls, and stadiums. The right to operate parks, playgrounds, campsites, and fishing facilities is retained. This goes hand-in-hand with the removal of language permitting “novel and experimental facilities” such as nuclear power plants.
No Advertising
Public money raised by the district may no longer be spent to advertise attractions, businesses, and facilities within the district.
Oversight
The district will retain its own ability to adopt its own planning, zoning, building, and safety codes, while clarifying the application of general law to those codes and requiring any building and safety codes to be substantially similar or provide more stringent standards than the Florida Building Code and Florida Fire Prevention Code.
The bill prohibits a person from serving on the district’s board if the person or a relative has within the past three years been an officer, owner, director, employee, agent, contractor, or subcontractor of, or had a contractual relationship with a company that owns or operates a theme park complex. Board members will also no longer be compensated.
The district will also lose its ability to prevail if matters of the district conflict with general law.
All of these changes would come into the Reedy Creek Improvement District starting June 1, 2023, when the district was originally set to be dissolved under the bill passed last year.
How do you feel about these changes to the Reedy Creek Improvement District? Let us know in the comments below!
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This all came from a mega corporation (one that I usually support and patronize) mistakenly, openly saying they would attempt to influence and override our democratically elected government. No one should want any megacorp to have the ability to impact or control our democracy. Reedy Creek was a good thing for Disney and for the citizens of Florida until Disney misused their benefits to fight democracy. If the Disney board wasn’t blinded by their own elitism they would be negotiating to save Reedy Creek and promise to never again use profits and benefits of the mega corporation to manipulate our democracy.
Whether good, bad or indifferent, all of this only has to do with DeSantis’ political ambitions and nothing to do with what’s best for Florida and its residents. Major companies will now think twice about doing business within Florida and that is not in the best interest of Floridians.
So basically Disney can’t operate a nuclear power plant or airport or make toll roads. . . I will translate – DeSantis screwed up big time, knows he’ll be sued, lose and likely be humiliated by this so he’s passing token laws that do basically nothing of consequence to save face. He was never going to successfully do anything he blabbed his mouth off about (and his and his lackeys constant blabbing basically ensured Disney would win any court case).
Its FINNALY over, disney for the big W on those awesome lawyered up fully to the teeth, arbituary analogs of provision. Now disney can still do what ever it wants, but now anywhere in the state, as longs as 530 and 525 can cut threw greedy creek, direct from I-4. It also means Disney can build their rail station anywhere it pleases.
This is all great news! About time they are treated like every other business. It’s only fair
So, here’s what likely happened. The state of Florida jumped into this without thinking, and when they realized they’d be on the hook for all of Disney’s bond debt, they went back to the drawing board and probably asked Disney what they’d be willing to give up so republicans could save face.
Disney was never going to build a nuclear plant, so yeah, go ahead and strip that out. Disney gets to retain all of it’s zoning and planning privileges, which is a must for the district. So what did Disney really lose?
They have an oversight board that will give one report in a year so DeSantis can hoot and holler about what a powerful big boy he is. Then they don’t have to do another report until he is out of office, either due to term limits or this country losing its mind an electing him president. So everything stays roughly the same, and both parties can carry on as they were. Just a tremendous waste of time by the government in Florida. That about sum it up?
As far as anyone knows wdw already follows most of these bc their law abiding citizens doesnt change a thing whats w all the bs racket gheez slow news day i guess but no one really cares about this beyond knowing desantis will get in trouble in the end its not pretty playing hard ball w the mouse and the rest of the theme parks and the mayor etc whom will rally behind wdw. Whose a small gov vs a billion dollar comp whose been in fl way longer than you probably bring most of the tourist your way… hence why this isnt as bad its all clout like desantis!
Another massive failure for Desantis.