CFTOD Board Member Martin Garcia Calls The Former Reedy Creek Board “Naughty”
Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) Chairman Martin Garcia didn’t hold back his criticism of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District board at the entity’s last meeting.
Among other complaints, Garcia called the former Reedy Creek board “naughty”.
When discussing how the district was paying over $8 million a year in district funds for overtime law enforcement services on Disney property, Garcia lashed out.
“Disney is not the only taxpayer in the district, we have other taxpayers … that doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.
“As we are doing more work, it appears that there are a number of other naughty things that this old board did with district funds, so we are going to look for further savings,” he alleged.
The CFOTD Lowers Disney’s Property Taxes
Garcia, who previously suggested raising property taxes in order to help fund the CFTOD’s legal battle with Disney has been no stranger to attacking Florida’s largest employer.
Despite these threats, however, the board recently unanimously approved the new proposed millage rate levied on the taxable value of land. This number helps determine the property taxes paid by property owners.
The district’s millage rate will drop to 12.95 mills (or 1/1,000th of a dollar levied on property assessments) which will lower Disney’s property taxes.
Glenton Gilzean Says The Board Will Be Fair
As Disney and the Ron Desnatis-appointed CFTOD continue to battle in public and prepare for court, there is no love lost between the two entities.
Despite this, district administrator Glenton Gilzean Jr. has continued to say tha the will be fair to Disney.
“Our responsibility is to the taxpayers in the district. I see showing the world — Disney included and other ratepayers — that my administration will call the balls and strikes fairly.”
In a big win for the CFOTD, earlier today the board announced that it had reached a new labor agreement with Walt Disney World’s first responders. The Disney-appointed Reedy Creek Improvement District had been unable to come to new terms with the union for years.
As always, be sure to check back with MickeyBlog. We will continue to bring you updates on all the news surrounding the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and its battle with Disney.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon! Also, thanks for reading!