they could secede from the state of Florida. the First Mouse War.
I bet a lot of people would want to immigrate to the Great State of Disney. Orderly management and mandatory morning sing alongs would probably be a great comfort.
While I get the politics surrounding Reedy Creek, I think DeSantis is making a huge mistake. Regardless of what you want to say about Disney's politics, one can't deny that they have been very good stewards of the Reedy Creek district. And while it may seem wired that a company gets to govern itself, when you're actually on Disney property it starts to make more sense. The property is freaking massive, like medium sized town massive. The government can take the district back but now they are on the hook for providing services to the place and I think that's going to cost the taxpayer in Florida a pretty penny.
> I think that's going to cost the taxpayer in Florida a pretty penny
It might, but Disney becomes a taxpayer as well and the county/state would not necessarily be under an obligation to maintain the roads and property to the same level that Disney presently does. This presents a huge challenge to Disney, because they need the property to be maintained at this level and need to have the flexibility that the special district affords them. Can you imagine the regular government permitting required to do what they do? Right now if they need to fill in a wetland area to build a hotel—no one outside of Disney need be involved in the yes or no of that decision.
Whether or not it’s legal will be for the courts to decide…however, should it stick, make no mistake…this hurts Disney far more than it hurts the local tax payers. If it didn’t Disney would have ended this special deal long ago.
> The property is freaking massive, like medium sized town massive.
Large city massive: Disney's property in Florida is roughly the same size as the city of San Francisco, though the vast majority of it is undeveloped.
> The government can take the district back but now they are on the hook for providing services
Yes, but there is no requirement that they continue to provide services at the same level of quality that the special district provides. The Disney experience will suffer (and tourism and tax revenue will fall) if the counties cannot provide services that are consistent across the two different counties, and consistent with Disney's current level of service.
I bet a lot of people would want to immigrate to the Great State of Disney. Orderly management and mandatory morning sing alongs would probably be a great comfort.