TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District would be renamed and its board members chosen by the governor under a bill filed for the special session that began Monday.
The measure renames Reedy Creek as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
Outstanding debt, contracts and tax collection would not be affected, according to the bill, backing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ statements that Orange and Osceola counties would not be responsible for Reedy Creek’s $1 billion debt.
The 189-page bill also changes how the five members of the district’s Board of Supervisors are selected. The governor would appoint those members subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
Under existing law, the district’s landowners elect the board members. Because Disney owns almost all of the land in the district, it can handpick the board members for Reedy Creek, created by the Legislature in 1967 as Walt Disney prepared to build his Florida theme park.
Any person who has worked for or had a contractual relationship with a theme park within the past three years would be prohibited from serving on the new board.
The legislation comes after DeSantis called for the state to take control of the district that Disney uses to effectively self-govern its theme parks in Florida.
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