NEWS: DeSantis-Appointed Reedy Creek Board Approves $4.5 Million Budget for Disney Lawsuit

Much has changed since the DeSantis-appointed Board of Supervisors took control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District — now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Cinderella Castle

Longtime employees have left, operations have been amended, and most recently, employee Disney World Annual Pass benefits were replaced with a stipend. The park pass change follows the latest board meeting, where we also learned just how much they plan on budgeting to fight Disney in federal court.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board has had a lot on its plate since taking over responsibilities formerly held by Disney’s Reedy Creek Board. The board members are admittedly unfamiliar with many of the processes needed to keep the district running, as board member Martin Garcia confirmed in a September 27th board meeting to discuss the budget for Fiscal Year 2024.

©Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board Livestream

“I don’t know what the process is, because this is all new to us,” said board chairman Martin Garcia after hearing a consultant’s analysis of the utilities agreement. Later during the meeting, the board unanimously voted to approve a $194.5 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

A portion of this money will go to maintaining roads, managing land and waterways, issuing permits, and more, but the district has also budgeted $4.5 million of that money for litigation.

©Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board

This comes after the board has already spent $1.9 million on lawyers so far this year — most of which has gone to fighting Disney in court. Members said more money was needed for these legal battles.

However, when it comes to paving and repairing 134 miles of asphalt in the district, the budget was slashed by $3 million citing supply issues.

Walt Disney World roads

According to the Washington Post, experts say that DeSantis’ board lacks the experience to run a special tax district this large and contains the “world’s most popular theme park.” Chad Emerson, lawyer and business executive who authored a book on “Project Future,” said, “I think you have a bunch of novices trying to run a really complex operation.”

He continued, “Disney had 50 years or so of doing this and had figured out how to make it run and how to make the guest experience great. I don’t think these folks care much about the guest experience.”