Hello everyone! What a lovely Spring Day and Hello to all the Anonymouse fans in my fandom! My fandom is ruled by the fair and honest ruler Chimp Chip. He rules the fandom and I rule the rumors and gossip…it is a equal partnership or so he tells me.
As Downtown Disney Disney Springs continue on their trek to make bigger and better your favorite Downtown area one thing that is going to be very important are the two parking garages that are slated to be built. We are all appreciative of the 6,000 new spaces created by this pair of parking garages as we all have done the parking lot slow drive at Downtown Disney. One interesting tidbit about these garages is how they are getting built and who is paying for them.
So, where the controversy and gossip stem from is Disney has its own personal government, Reedy Creek Improvement District and they are having them pay the $85 million parking garages bill. This will save Disney millions of dollars but will in fact cost Florida taxpayers and federal taxpayers those same dollars.
Reedy Creek, unlike Disney, can finance the garages with tax-free bonds. And Reedy Creek, unlike Disney, does not have to pay sales tax on the materials used to build them.
Critics accuse the Walt Disney Co., which earned a company record $5.7 billion in profit last year, of exploiting its captive government.
“Reedy Creek’s ability to issue tax-free bonds and avoid paying sales taxes on construction materials gives the Disney Co. a competitive advantage over other theme parks and resorts in Florida,” said Rick Foglesong, a political-science professor at Rollins College in Winter Park.
Disney of course is defending the move by saying that the parking garages are one part to a major overhaul that is going to happen to ease chronic congestion.
“The infrastructure work we are planning in coordination with the Reedy Creek Improvement District will provide easier access to Disney Springs while helping to minimize the impact on surrounding roadways at no cost to local taxpayers,” Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said. “Consistent with its charter and its historic mission, Reedy Creek has funded and continues to fund infrastructure projects across our property.”
Disney will not reveal how much it expects to save by financing the project in this manner. So what do you think? Do you think Disney is doing a service to all of us that need more parking but are they doing things differently than anyone else would do them? Anonymouse is still thinking about this…let me know what you think?
Oh and this nugget just in…there is a rumor buzzing around this morning about the Pixar Pals Parade and Disney Channel Rocks show’s closing being caused so Disney can make room for “Star Wars Land”. Hmmmm…I am thinking smart move Disney on this one! It is always good to freshen things up a bit don’t you think?
Anywho that is all the Disney Gossip I have right now. For my past Gossip articles be sure to check them out here.
Got any good gossip/rumors? Please email me at AnonyMouse@chipandco.com or on my Facebook Page
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Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Sounds like Disney is maximizing the use of the resources available to them. If this tax issue troubled the Florida legislature, they would revise Disney’s ability to have a “captive government.” But let’s face it, Disney generates waaaaay more in tax revenue than it will cost for this project. As a Florida taxpayer, I’m not losing any sleep over this. Small price to pay to actually get a parking spot every once in a while!