The new bill detailing the proposed changes to Walt Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District has been released to the public. While the 189-page document will take some time to process, we have compiled a list of the major or notable changes below.
No Dissolution
“Notwithstanding s. 189.0311(2), Florida Statutes, the Reedy Creek Improvement District is not dissolved as of June 1, 2023, but continues in full force and effect under its new name.”
New Name
It will be renamed the “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.” It will be permitted to operate as the Reedy Creek Improvement District as a “fictional name” for two years in order to make all necessary changes to documents, signs, contracts, bonds, accounts, and more.
Board of Supervisors
One proposal aims to create a board of supervisors to govern the district. The board will consist of five members, all appointed by the Florida Governor and confirmed by the Senate. No one who has worked for a theme park complex within three years will be permitted to serve, nor are landowners in the district permitted to serve.
No Nuclear Power
1967 – “Public Utilities – To own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend and improve electric power plants, transmission lines and related facilities, gas mains and facilities of any nature for the production or distribution of natural gas, telephone lines, plants and systems and other communications systems of any nature, transmission lines and related facilities and plants and facilities for the generation and transmission of power through nuclear fission and other new and experimental sources of power and energy; to purchase electric power, natural gas and other sources of power for distribution within the District; and to develop and operate such new and experimental public utilities, including but not limited to centrally distributed heating and air conditioning facilities and services, closed-circuit television systems, and computer services and facilities, as the Board of Supervisors may from time to time determine.”
2023 – “Public Utilities – To own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend, and improve electric power plants, solar energy generating systems, transmission lines and related facilities, gas mains and facilities of any nature for the production, handling, distribution, or sale of natural gas, centrally distributed heating and air conditioning facilities and services, telephone lines, wireless communications systems, internet, and fiber optic cables and lines, facilities, plants, and systems, and other communications systems of any nature, and to purchase and sell electric power, natural gas, and other sources of power for distribution within the district.”
Procedure for Changes to Powers and Authorities
The board of supervisors shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, within 1 year after the effective date of this act, and every 5 years thereafter, a report that includes a review of all remaining powers and authorities included herein and any recommendations for consideration of eliminating said powers and authorities for potential repeal by the Legislature. The bill also removes the district’s power to redraw its own boundaries without a special act of the Legislature.
Taxes
The bill states the intent to pay the existing debts and bonds by taxing the landowners (which is currently exclusively Disney). This is the same as the original act for the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1968.
The concerns over the local residents being taxed came from the original intent to dissolve the district. Since the district is not being dissolved, the debts and bonds remain the same.
Roads & Transit
The bill removes the district’s ability to charge tolls, the district’s exclusive authority to acquire, construct, and maintain public roads within the district, and the requirement that the district approve any location, design, and construction for access and connecting roads for State Road 530, State Road 525, and Interstate 4.
Airports & Recreational Facilities
The newly-reformed district would no longer have the power to operate certain types of facilities such as airports, civic centers, convention halls, and stadiums. The right to operate parks, playgrounds, campsites, and fishing facilities is retained. This goes hand-in-hand with the removal of language permitting “novel and experimental facilities” such as nuclear power plants.
No Advertising
Public money raised by the district may no longer be spent to advertise attractions, businesses, and facilities within the district.
Oversight
The district will retain its own ability to adopt its own planning, zoning, building, and safety codes, while clarifying the application of general law to those codes and requiring any building and safety codes to be substantially similar or provide more stringent standards than the Florida Building Code and Florida Fire Prevention Code.
The bill prohibits a person from serving on the district’s board if the person or a relative has within the past three years been an officer, owner, director, employee, agent, contractor, or subcontractor of, or had a contractual relationship with a company that owns or operates a theme park complex. Board members will also no longer be compensated.
The district will also lose its ability to prevail if matters of the district conflict with general law.
All of these changes would come into the Reedy Creek Improvement District starting June 1, 2023, when the district was originally set to be dissolved under the bill passed last year.
How do you feel about these changes to the Reedy Creek Improvement District? Let us know in the comments below!
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The post What Changes Would Come to Walt Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District Following Newly Proposed Bill? appeared first on WDW News Today.