The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) Board of Supervisors may be hiring a law professor to prepare a detailed research report identifying strengths and weaknesses in the District.

The proposed research project is on Wednesday’s CFTOD Board agenda as item 8.1.

Professor Donald J. Kochan is Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center at George Mason University.

His proposal, included in the agenda, is for the preparation of an approximately 50-page report “identifying whether and what legal and constitutional authority and infirmities and structural strengths and abnormalities exist within the governance of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District (now the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (“CFTOD”)) and associated governance regimes and from the statutory or regulatory privileges granted to specific corporate entities.”

“The Report will make some initial recommendations for reform of existing governance regimes and steps for reform, but most of the work on developing those recommendations will be reserved for later phases of this project.”

Professor Kochan requests a $110,000 project fee. If approved, the report would be due by November 3, 2023.

Board chairman Martin Garcia said in a press release, “To discover and solve more latent problems, the Board is turning to Professor Kochan to elucidate some of the economic and legal implications the old structure created and provide recommendations to further reform the District to make it more responsive to the citizens of central Florida.”

Read the full press release below.

CENTRAL FLORIDA TOURISM OVERSIGHT DISTRICT ENGAGES ESTEEMED LAW PROFESSOR DONALD J. KOCHAN

Kochan will assess the history, legality, and practices of the District and advise on democratic governance, constitutional limitations, and land use law going forward

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL (August 23, 2023) – The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) has engaged renowned law professor Donald J. Kochan to undertake a detailed legal and economic study of the practices of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District and similar governance regimes with privileges granted to specific corporate entities. His report will analyze Florida, federal, and constitutional law, and make recommendations on the use of legislative and municipal authority to ensure that special interests do not benefit at the expense of the public in the future.

An eminent constitutional scholar who also specializes in property and administrative law, Professor Kochan is the Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He has earned a multitude of legal awards and citations and published numerous books and articles on land use, regulation, property rights, environmental law, and related subjects.

“We could not be advised by a better or more qualified expert than Professor Kochan,” announced Martin Garcia, Chairman of the CFTOD Board. “And the work is critical. For over 56 years, Disney had their own governmentally controlled kingdom which, while sparking economic growth for central Florida, also produced many negative outcomes for the taxpayers, employees, and citizens of Orange and Osceola Counties.”

Garcia explained, “In the past six months, our Board has adopted new policies and practices to fix some of the glaring issues. To discover and solve more latent problems, the Board is turning to Professor Kochan to elucidate some of the economic and legal implications the old structure created and provide recommendations to further reform the District to make it more responsive to the citizens of central Florida.”

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