The state can't just go "you owe $1b now" to Disney.
Who do you think RCID's biggest bondholder is?
While you roll that around in your head, I'll tell ya what the state CAN say:
"Fuck you, we're not paying you shit."
Now do you have a guess at who RCID owes money to?
It's really not a hard question when you realize that muni bonds aren't taxable, and taxes to RCID are deductible. Now who might want a road-building tax shelter?
The ultimate goal of every person is “evolve” like super God, to know their origins and their position in the Universe.
No it's not.
My ultimate goal is to die of a heart attack while motorboating. Preferably on a boat.
That is how the world works isn't it.
But in all seriousness, we ditched scripture, iconography, and clergy because forms are restrictive. Every being has a connection to god, we perceive it when we experience pain from knowledge. It's what differentiates us from organisms. We WERE and remain organisms, but something else besides which they are not. In that way, we are both flawed and deviant from god's design (relative to other organisms), but simultaneously more alike to and connected to god.
While it might be blithe to shrug off original sin as a happy little accident, that's kinda what it was.
Y'call that a food processing plant fire?
The liability of bond debt from an improvement district to a county, which had no say on its issuance, is very likely challengeable in court. I suspect that Orange and Osceola county will succeed in leaving RCID's creditors holding the bag.
That being said, Orange and Osceola are blue counties. I see no reason why red Florida man would care what happens to them.
"Florida could see $1 Billion Dollar Tax Bomb from Disney Special District elimination."
Only if Florida man decides to raise taxes instead of cutting spending.
In which case Disney gets to enjoy the same shit roads the rest of Florida lives with.
It's also been pointed out that this will supposedly result in a massive tax increase in Orange county, because Disney (via RCID) spends a lot more on maintaining better quality roads than the surrounding area.
Except what it REALLY means is that if Disney wants a road fixed, they're at the mercy of the county, which is composed of Florida man.
That may actually be the worst bit for Disney, that they could potentially lose control over Osceola Parkway, World Drive, Buena Vista Drive, Western Way, and DEFINITELY a segment of US 192 and its intersection with Interstate 4.
You can see right here the point where you go from county to RCID roads...
Guess what Disney, you're in FLORIDA now.
Remember, Babylon 5's main story premise is basically "Arthurian Legend in Space".
You can see bits of Tolkien's influence mixed in too.
In Thirdspace we learn that the Vorlons tried to transcend the universe, open a doorway to the beyond... and they succeeded. And only barely managed to get it closed again before what they found on the other side could destroy everything.
I loved the show, but I have a question, did Sheridan actually die?
He took the Straight Road to Aman.
Sheridan after Za'ha'dum is basically Gandalf the White.
European cars may be safer than American ones but for about four decades you couldn't buy one here if they didn't have giant ass sealed beam headlights that European builders hated.
If the RCID drops, the same sort of thing will happen to Disney's parks when Orange County Dept of Building Safety comes in.
It doesn't matter if what Disney has is safer than the rule. Only whether it CONFORMS to the rule. Because exceeding and conforming are not the same thing.
I suspect that a great many buildings in the Disney parks do not fully conform to building, electrical, accessibility, and fire codes as written, and if they're not as written, then they don't conform, period.
The most in danger is probably the elevated monorail. I can't imagine any bridge inspector looking at the steel plate struts holding the spans and not immediately deeming them structurally deficient and obsolete. You just can't have a single solid plate supporting that much load. They're gonna get up there, find fatigue cracks, and that's it, done, shut'er'down.
For those who don't know the history...
When Walt started working on the Florida project, his main personal focus was on EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). He'd gone full futurist and wanted to build a model community that would address all the problems he'd seen in urbanization.
To facilitate this, once Disney went public with their land acquisitions, they asked Florida to create a special watershed improvement district for them. This was known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Effectively, it emancipated their land from Orange and Osceola counties.
Within its boundaries, the RCID had primary responsibility for most county and municipal levels of government. In practical application, this means that RCID has its own fire dept, its own building codes, it's own health and environmental depts, and responsibility and authority over roads and utilities.
This was, obviously, an enormous boon to Disney, and a huge "fuck you" to the involved counties.
Walt died before realizing Epcot, and Roy had the whole thing redone as a park. By all rights the RCID should have ended there. But it carried on due to momentum and Florida generally liking the money that was rolling in.
BECAUSE INSIDE VERY GOOK THERE IS AN AMERICAN TRYING TO GET OUT.
It's a hardball world, son. We gotta try keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.
My community. I'm quaker. We don't carry grudges, but I don't appreciate the fact that nobody remembers that we tried.
All the "progress" everyone else has made has just been them catching up to a norm we embraced in the 1650's.
Which is why they don't have to say that.
They can simply say they're not going to make Disney's bonds whole. And then charge them with racketeering and fifty years of income tax evasion.
Because that's what it was. Disney has money. Disney wants something built. RCID issues muni bonds to build thing for Disney. Disney buys all the bonds. RCID taxes Disney. Disney deducts these taxes from their corporate income taxes. RCID pays for thing to be built. RCID pays its bond holders. Disney's income from this bond is not taxable because it's a muni.
It's a tax shelter. Not a big one, but it does effectively allow them to sneak money past their liability in the two bolded steps.
RCID had responsibility over less than 40 square miles of land and yet had over a billion dollars in bond liabilities. BECAUSE IT WAS IN DISNEY'S INTEREST to maximize the amount of money RCID owed it.