Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis upped the stakes Tuesday in his battle with the Walt Disney Co. over sex education in the classroom by proposing to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
RCID is the special tax and governing taxing district for the land owned by Disney World in Orlando. It has the same authority as a county government and includes 39 square miles of land in Orange and Osceola counties.
Fitch Ratings said it was too early to tell what the action would mean for bondholders.
“It is difficult to estimate what a dissolution of the RCID would cost Disney over time. RCID’s general fund and utility budgets are approximately $120 million and $125 million, respectively,” said Michael Rinaldi, head of U.S. local government ratings at Fitch. “The bulk of the district’s operating budget is driven by services provided to the various Disney-owned properties.”
Outstanding governmental debt totals approximately $719 million and utility debt stands at roughly $200 million.
“At this juncture, it is not clear how the debt would be treated if RCID is dissolved (would the debt be assumed by another governmental or private entities),” Rinaldi, said. “Dissolution of the district would eliminate access to tax-exempt issuance via RCID, potentially costing Disney and other landowners within the district more to finance various projects.”
The Florida Legislature is meeting this week in a special session called recently by DeSantis to discuss the redistricting plan for Congressional districts across the state. But on Tuesday he added an extra mandate that lawmakers must debate.
“I am announcing today that we are expanding the call of what they are going to be considering this week. Yes, they will be considering the Congressional map, but they also will be considering termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968, and that includes the Reedy Creek Improvement District,” he said at a press conference.
In March, the state Legislature passed a law that DeSantis signed banning classroom instruction in public schools about sexual orientation or gender identity.
Opponents of the law call it "Don't Say Gay" and claim the policy will hurt LGBTQ+ children. Supporters counter that it lets parents decide and how their children are taught about LGBTQ+ topics.
Disney came out against the legislation, saying that it would fight to have it repealed.
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” a spokesperson for the Walt Disney Co. said. “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that.”
