Disney tells investors state can't dissolve special district without paying debt

[Nevilledog]

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Mary Ellen Klas
@MaryEllenKlas
NEW: Disney ends its silence, quietly tells its investors Florida law prevents state from dissolving special district without first paying debt /1

Disney World in Orlando has been the target of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ retaliation for publicly opposing the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, also known as the “don’t say gay” bill.
miamiherald.com

Disney tells investors state can’t dissolve special district without paying debt
As Florida legislators were rushing through passage of a bill to repeal the special district that governs Walt Disney World last week, they failed to notice an obscure provision in state law that...
4:43 PM · Apr 26, 2022

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article260783972.html

As Florida legislators were rushing through passage of a bill to repeal the special district that governs Walt Disney World last week, they failed to notice an obscure provision in state law that says the state could not do what legislators were doing — unless the district’s bond debt was paid off.

Disney, however, noticed and quietly sent a note to its investors to show that it was confident the Legislature’s attempt to dissolve the special taxing district operating the 39-square mile parcel it owned in two counties violated the “pledge” the state made when it enacted the district in 1967, and therefore was not legal.

The result, Disney told its investors, is that it would continue to go about business as usual.

The statement, posted on the website of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on April 21 by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, is the only public statement Disney has supplied since lawmakers unleashed their fury over the company’s vocal opposition to the “Parental Rights in Education” law, also known as the “don’t say gay” bill.

*snip*

[TomSlick]

1. Don't mess with the mouse.

He has better lawyers.

[Cha]

2. Rt💖🤷‍♂️TY!

Link to tweet

💙💛

[lastlib]

6. (I'm sure it's written into the bond covenant as well....

It shouldn't take two shakes of a lamb's tail for Disney to FORCE Florida to pay up or toss out the law.)

I hadn't thought of that before. Old memories coming back....

[Cha]

9. GO TEAM MOUSE!

💙💛

[Baitball Blogger]

3. De Santis can be forgiven for not seeing fiduciary responsibility locked into the wording of

the Reedy Creek District wording. It's a quaint old legal term that local Florida government and HOA's dropped as a practice, decades ago.

[Lovie777]

4. On s.................

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "they failed to notice an obscure provision in state law...

that says the state could not do what legislators were doing — unless the district’s bond debt was paid off."



ETA to note that Disney World was built a bunch of years before DeathSantis was even born. In fact my family visited there 4 years after Magic Kingdom opened, and 3 years before he was born... and they were still finishing off and adding more stuff to it (Epcot didn't exist then).

[Cha]

11. Aww.. lol!

💙💛

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Orlando in summer

equals a rain shower every afternoon - even at Disney World!

[Cha]

25. 💙GO Disney!

💙💛

[soldierant]

7. I knew it was illegal to dissolve it prior to the end of the term for which it was formed

but I didn't realize they could get around that by paying the bond debt. Very interesting.

[In It to Win It]

8. This was a pure political stunt from DeSantis. It was for show

[Cha]

12. I HOPE there's a Really Big Show of

BACKFIRING!

💙💛

[gratuitous]

10. Attacking the Holy Rodent Empire

Contraindicated.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. There are all kinds of

DUzys in every word you wrote.

[Grins]

13. How many lawyers are there in the Fla. legislature...?

And NOT ONE OF THEM thought to look at the originating documents????*

They are so effed.

(* Note: DeSantis is a lawyer)

[JCMach1]

14. Not as many as you might think... In RW legislatures most laws are written by ALEC these days...

Not just being cynical here...

Very little legislation is written by legislators any more. Hence, the unique Disney FUp...

Did I mention Disney has some of the best corporate lawyers in the game with nothing better to do by kneecap the State of Florida and Desantis.

Don't F' with the Mouse

[calimary]

17. Well, ions he article, they did describe the law behind this as the "no lawyer left behind act"!

MAN-oh-MAN!!!

Don't mess with the Mouse, indeed!

[intheflow]

21. Right? This will be a nice change-up for the lawyers

who must be somewhat bored with copyright law by now. lol

[Zeitghost]

15. Florida has 33 Billion in debt

They wouldn't blink an eye when absorbing Reedy Creek's debt added an additional billion. It's a nice political snafu for us to point out, but not a real financial problem for the state,

[Straw Man]

16. I'm just guessing ...

... but wouldn't they be required not just to take on the debt, but to pay it off completely before proceeding with the dissolution? Would that make a difference?

[Zeitghost]

20. Not really

The state would take on additional debt and use the funds to pay off RCID's debt.

[intheflow]

22. But it won't be the state that would absorb the costs,

it's the counties. You think DeathSantis is going to dig into the state coffers to own the libs? He'd be happy to bankrupt these Democratic counties, which is the whole point. Because it's not really Disney's stance, it's everyone who works to support Disney and those communities that overwhelmingly vote Dem.

[Zeitghost]

24. If the debt is required to be discharged prior to the disillusion

The State would need to step in if they want their plan to continue. I'm sure the counties would prefer the debt issue to hold up or prevent the disillusion.

[mentalsolstice]

23. Been to DW twice as a child in the early 70s

It was fun, but after the 2d trip, I was kinda meh, BTDT. I never thought at the age of 61, I would consider buying a Micky Mouse T-shirt as a show of support. Will look for one with rainbow colors. It should go over big up here in the panhandle, NOT.