Central Florida taxpayers sue Gov. Ron DeSantis over Reedy Creek's dissolve
Updated: 5:17 PM EDT May 5, 2022
Michelle Meredith
Reporter
ORLANDO, Fla. —
A group of people are now suing state leaders over the decision to get rid of Disney's Reedy Creek District, saying it was only passed to punish Disney, and subsequently taxpayers.
The number one goal of this lawsuit is to get a judge to toss out the law that would dissolve Reedy Creek.
It accuses Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials of violating the constitutional rights of taxpayer along with the first amendment rights of Disney. It says the law was designed to punish Disney after the company’s CEO spoke out about the law that critics call "Don't Say Gay."
It points back to comments from the Orange County Tax Collector that wiping out the district would lead to big tax increases, plus, over $1 billion in debt would have to get picked up by either the counties, or the state.
"The moment that it dissolves, that money's gone. Just gone. And instead, what happens is all the debts and obligations of Reedy Creek get transferred over to Orange County government," Scott Randolph, Orange County tax collector, said.
RELATED: Reedy Creek repeal could mean a huge tax increase for Orange County
This was actually filed this week in federal court, by an attorney running for U.S. Senate, Will Sanchez, on behalf of three people in Osceola County, and one in Orange County.
The governor has claimed state lawmakers will come back and pass more bills to make sure that the cost of Reedy Creek's demise won’t land on taxpayers, but, so far no plans have been put out.
When asked what he would say in a message to DeSantis, Sanchez said, “Pay attention to what taxpayers are saying.”
The Miami attorney says filing a lawsuit against the governor is a bold move, but he says it’s on behalf of three concerned people who live in Osceola and Orange counties.
“And I know that we are going to have a seat at the table because of the lawsuit,” Sanchez said.
Filed in federal court, the case is based on two premises. The first is that the state’s move to dissolve to Disney’s Reedy Creek “violates Disney’s first amendment rights.” If true, this means that Disney is being punished for speaking out, expressing “disagreement with the ‘Don’t Say Gay bill.’”
"Elected officials, presidents, judges, multi-billionaires... No one has the right to restrict someone's freedom of speech, whoever they are. They have to follow the constitution also,” Sanchez said.
The second condition is that dissolving Reedy Creek “will probably lead to increased taxes for residents of the Orlando area” and violates the taxpayers' Bill of Rights designed to make sure “Florida taxpayers are adequately safeguarded and protected.”
The governor’s office says the state is working on a plan to make sure the taxpayers don’t “bear the burden of Disney’s debt.”
"We're not going to take Gov. DeSantis' word for it. We want to see the evidence. And that's why we filed the lawsuit,” Sanchez said.
The governor and state officials will be served this lawsuit Thursday or Monday, and then the state will have 20 days to respond.
WESH 2 did reach out to the governor's office, for comment on the lawsuit, but haven’t heard back yet.
DeSantis has not attempted to disguise the fact that the elimination of Reedy Creek was in response to Disney speaking out against the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics.
"I am not comfortable having one company with their own government and special privileges, when that company has pledged itself to attacking the parents in my state," he said. "When that company has very high up people talking about injecting pansexualism into programing for young kids, it's wrong. Walt Disney would not want that. And so get back to the mission. Do what you did great. That's why people love the company, and you've lost your way. Maybe this will be the wake-up call that they need to get back on track."
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