DeSantis: I’ll void Reedy Creek deal, consider hotel tax, tolls for Disney World

By Steven Lemongello and Skyler Swisher, Orlando Sentinel

Escalating an already hot feud, Gov. Ron DeSantis says he plans to work with the Legislature to void the Reedy Creek deal with Disney that stripped the new board of its power and consider imposing new hotel taxes and tolls on Disney World.

“Come hell or high water, we’re going to make sure that policy of Florida carries the day,” DeSantis said in a speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan on Thursday night, first reported by Politico. “And so they can keep trying to do things. But ultimately we’re going to win on every single issue involving Disney, I can tell you that.”

In a question-and-answer session at the conservative Michigan college, DeSantis called the entertainment giant and largest single-site employer in the state a “joke.”

Disney is “acting like somehow that they pulled one over on the state,” DeSantis said.

“But now that Disney has reopened this issue, we’re not just going to void the development agreement they tried to do, we’re going to look at things like taxes on the hotels, we’re going to look at things like tolls on the roads,” he said. “We’re going to look at things like developing some of the property that the district owns.”

He reiterated his intention to undo Disney’s deal during a news conference in Ocala on Friday, saying additional legislative action will be taken to nullify the deal and “potentially arm the board with the ability to make sure that this is run appropriately.”

Democrats accused DeSantis of wanting to increase costs for working-class Floridians.

Raising hotel taxes or putting tolls on roads will hurt consumers, not Disney, said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.

“It’s hitting a point of absurdity,” she said. “It is not creating an even playing field. It’s about DeSantis looking big and bad next to Disney.”

If DeSantis wants accountability, he should urge the Legislature to pass combined reporting for corporate income taxes that would prevent corporations from using tax-avoiding accounting tricks, Eskamani said.

Disney did not respond to a request for comment.

A previous unsigned statement from Disney said, “all agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida Government in the Sunshine law.”

The Legislature passed a bill in February that stripped the company of control of the special Reedy Creek district after more than 50 years and allowed DeSantis to appoint its board. But in the last meeting of the outgoing board on Feb. 8, its members quietly approved a 30-year development agreement and restrictive covenants with Disney designed to be in place for decades.

The deals were publicly issued in legal notices, and DeSantis’ handpicked board members conceded they essentially left them powerless to manage future development.

Disney could challenge DeSantis and the Legislature in court if they move to void the development agreement on the grounds that they are invalidating an existing contract, said Jacob Schumer, a Central Florida attorney who specializes in local government law. If lawmakers single out Disney, the corporation could also argue that the action violates the equal-protection clause, he said.

“If the Legislature is targeting an existing contract and specifically impairs the contract, that is a constitutional problem,” Schumer said. “Going back and voiding a contract would be very difficult to defend in court. I would think Disney would have a much stronger case.”

It’s also possible that the state could argue the agreement wasn’t done in accordance with state law. Schumer said he hasn’t found anything in his review that the state could use to get the contract voided.

DeSantis and his allies may have an easier path getting a “declaration of restrictive covenants” tossed, he said. That document’s restrictions include a stipulation that the district not make aesthetic changes to its buildings without Disney’s review.

DeSantis’ threat is the latest in the back-and-forth battle between the state and the Walt Disney Co. that began when former CEO Bob Chapek criticized the so-called “don’t say gay” law last year that limits instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.

During his speech Thursday, DeSantis also spoke about the scope of his power, as demonstrated by his moves against Disney.

“Some governors in this country, they don’t like to make decisions,” he said. “They hope everything kind of just fizzles out before it gets to their desk. That’s not me. I mean, I’m very active. I want to be involved. When the Legislature is not moving enough, I will prod and push.”

“I don’t know what S.O.B. is gonna succeed me, but they ain’t going to have anything to do,” DeSantis added. “Because I’m taking all the meat off the bone.”