51
Credit: FOX/CFTODTwo communities in the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District are about to be cut off from government services after the DeSantis-picked board of supervisors decided not to renew contracts that the Walt Disney Company had held for years.
Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake are two small communities in the area now known as the CFTOD and, formerly, the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Until this month, government services like fire protection, accounting, and information technology had been provided by the CFTOD, which has decided not to re-up and let the two communities figure it out for themselves (per WESH2).
Related: Florida GOP Shoots Down Plans To Return DeSantis District to Disney
Law enforcement services are already being provided to Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, but the expired contracts will have to be replaced by the communities themselves.
City Manager Randy Singh (who works for both townlets) says he is working to replace the services no longer provided by the CFTOD, saying there will be “[n]o difference in terms of services, in terms of security, level of services will remain the same.” The contracts will expire on January 16, at which time city staff will move to a new headquarters, ironically in a Disney-owned building.
Reportedly, Singh is also working to re-contract with the CFTOD board of supervisors for fire protection, which may be difficult for the DeSantis-backed board. When the governor dissolved Reedy Creek, allegedly in political retaliation against Disney for making public statements regarding the Parental Rights in Education Act (better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law), it kicked off a slew of issues for the firefighters of the area, most particularly when DeSantis stripped them of longstanding Disney Parks benefits.
Related: DeSantis’ New State Inspections Begin at Walt Disney World
DeSantis and the CFTOD board of supervisors have made the Disney perks and benefits a public case in the last several months, accusing the company of decades of de facto “bribes” by providing Reedy Creek employees with free passes and discounts. The board commissioned an enormously expensive report to make these claims, which Disney has vehemently denied.
Inside the Magic reached out to Randy Singh for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
Do you think the CFTOD is managing the tax district well? Let us know in the comments below!