Disney to Lose Special Florida Tax Status Amid ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Clash

“The impact on Disney is more symbolic than real money,” Steven Cahall, a Wells Fargo analyst, said in an email, “though political theater is never great for stock sentiment.”

Disney’s stock price fell on Thursday, ending the day down 2.3 percent.

Florida has hundreds of similar special tax districts that would be left in place. One covers the Villages, a huge senior-living community northwest of Orlando. Another covers Daytona International Speedway and the surrounding area.

The designation has been a critical tool for Disney in developing the resort, which includes six theme parks; a sprawling outdoor shopping mall; a 220-acre basketball, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, baseball and competitive cheer complex; and 18 Disney-owned hotels with 24,000 rooms. Disney World has a bus fleet that rivals that of St. Louis.

In 2021, Disney World paid more than $780 million in state and local taxes, according to a Disney disclosure.

Disney World straddles two counties, Orange and Osceola, which would be required under state law to step in and provide a version of the services currently handled by Reedy Creek, almost certainly leading to increased taxes for their residents. Orange County’s tax collector, Scott Randolph, has estimated that residents would see property taxes climb as much as 20 percent. Reedy Creek has an annual budget of $355 million, according to public records. It carries $977 million in debt, which would also be transferred to the counties.

Disney could apply to re-establish the district if it is eliminated. The company could instead reduce its future investment in the resort’s expansion.

Disney had already been at odds with Mr. DeSantis on pandemic issues, including its attempted vaccine mandate for employees. In 2020, however, Disney benefited from his aggressive effort to reopen Florida for business, even as coronavirus infections spiked. Disney World closed in March 2020 and reopened in July that year. (In contrast, the company was not able to reopen Disneyland in California until last April because of that state’s tougher pandemic regulations.)

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/business/disney-florida-special-tax-status.html