Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Bill Ending Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District
Today marks history and the end of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. This morning Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill allowing the state of Florida to take control of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District. The press conference was held at Reedy Creek Fire Station #4.
Note: however, that the District will still have two years to continue doing business under the RCID name so they can make changes to legal and financial documents among other items.
The bill renames the district to The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and DeSantis will appoint a five-member board to oversee the new district. Names of board members to begin immediately are as listed below.
Chair of the board is Martin Garcia – Tampa lawyer.
Bridget Ziegler who is a member of the Sarasota County School Board
Brian Aungst Jr – Pinellas County lawyer who had was previously on the Pinellas County Commission Redistricting Committee.
Ron Peri – CEO of The Gathering USA
Mike Sasso – Seminole County lawyer
This is the paper that Governor DeSantis’s team provided to media at the Reedy Creek press event this morning.
“DISSOLVING THE CORPORATE KINGDOM
In 1967, the Florida Legislature created the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which gifted extraordinary special privileges to a single corporation. Until Governor DeSantis acted, the Walt Disney Company maintained sole control over the district. This power amounted to an unaccountable Corporate Kingdom.
ENDS DISNEY’S SELF-GOVERNING STATUS.
ENDS DISNEY’S EXEMPTION FROM THE FLORIDA BUILDING CODE AND FLORIDA FIRE PREVENTION CODE.
ENDS DISNEY’S EXEMPTION FROM STATE REGULATORY REVIEWS AND APPROVALS.
ENDS DISNEY’S SECRECY BY ENSURING TRANSPARENCY. ENSURES THAT DISNEY WILL PAY ITS FAIR SHARE OF TAXES. PREVENTS LEFTIST LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FROM USING THE SITUATION TO RAISE LOCAL TAXES.
IMPOSES FLORIDA LAW SO THAT DISNEY IS NO LONGER GIVEN PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.
ENSURES THAT DISNEY’S MUNICIPAL DEBT WILL BE PAID BY DISNEY, NOT FLORIDA TAXPAYERS.”
Florida is placing the district into state receivership and beginning a new era of accountability and transparency.