New developments have come to light regarding the continuing concerns between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) board, and Disney. Today, employees were hit with a 2 million dollar bill for back taxes owed on previous job perks.

Here’s some background. Following the Reedy Creek Improvement District’s (or RCID) dissolution earlier this year, employees of the district lost perks like park tickets and covered discounts. After backlash over this change, the newly created Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), created by Governor Ron DeSantis, approved stipends for employees instead.

Today, the Orlando Sentinel reported on an internal memo informing district employees that, although the Disney World annual passes were complimentary to the employees and retirees, the perk required income tax payment that now results in over 2 million dollars worth of back taxes owed.

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board administrator Glen Gilzean released an internal memo on the matter to employees of the RCID about their recent notice from the IRS. “[I]t has come to the attention of the district administration that the previous leadership chose not to inform staff about their IRS obligations to pay legally owed taxes on season pass benefits.” Gilzean continued, “This has resulted in our employees owing over $2 million in income back taxes.”

Disney employees went on to notify leadership that they were not informed of an obligation in tax liability for the benefit according to Matthew Oberly, who is a district spokesman. Gilzean went on to assure employees and retirees concerned about the matter that they are actively working with the IRS to come up with a solution to cover the millions of dollars owed in back income taxes.

Currently, around 400 people work for the Disney World district, which has been at the epicenter of DeSantis’ ongoing battle with Disney. The governor’s new hand-picked board replaced Disney-friendly members back in February of this year as part of a state takeover.

As this new board took effect, one of their first orders of business was to take a deeper look into and modify existing perks programs they felt were “unethical” and exclusively benefited Disney over other businesses. However, this decision to dissolve a beloved perk proved divisive when employees pointed out that the complimentary theme park passes played a key factor in their decision to work for the district.

When the new board opted to end the complimentary Disney World pass benefit for its employees, they proposed a $3,000 yearly stipend in its place which is still in bargaining stages for unionized employees.

The responsibility for the tax bill could fall on both the district and its employees, who could face tax implications if the IRS finds taxes were never paid on the Disney World park passes, according to Charlotte A. Erdmann, founding attorney of Orlando Tax Law.

“The Disney passes were likely a taxable benefit, similar to wages or bonuses,” said Erdmann. “Due to the nature of the benefit, they were unlike cafeteria plans, medical benefits and other pre-tax benefits. They are also of substantial value.” However, Erdmann is not associated with the district nor has reviewed the matter in its entirety.

If the resolution that is being worked out with the IRS results in the district paying the tax liability, that means the taxpayers would be footing the bill, according to Erdmann’s initial observations. It should also be noted that Disney and its affiliates pay about 86% of the district’s property taxes currently.

We’ll keep you updated on the developing story.

District Chief Responds to Accusations that DeSantis’ Reedy Creek Is “Incompetent”

Do you feel like this tax bill will be left to taxpayers to resolve? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

The post NEWS: Reedy Creek Employees Receive Two Million Dollar Tax Bill For Suspended Benefits first appeared on the disney food blog.