The Walt Disney Company’s Reedy Creek Improvement District was created in May 1967 and gives Disney governmental control over the land covering their Florida resort.
What you don't mention explicitly is how unbelievably efficient Disney is at doing almost anything. They don't have an expansive population base, and are therefore reliant upon customers to show up at Disney World to make money. If the sewers don't work, or if the water pipes are lined with lead, or if the fire department doesn't show up quickly and hotels burn down, Disney is going to lose customers. Consequently, they have a huge incentive to make their sewer, electric, water, fire department, police department, etc. great. By always letting the profit motive be their guide (like Jiminy Cricket) Disney proves the point that private firms can provide public goods at least as efficiently as the government. I bet, given the constraints of counties around the Magic Kingdom, the quality of those services will be diminished as a result of all of this. If the statistics you provide are even close to correct, there will not be a 20% increase in taxes. Those governments, and the citizens, won't put up with it.
The concerning thing to me, as someone who is conservative by nature, is how un-conservative DeSantis' move is. It is actually the action of someone seeking to expand the arm of the state. True conservatives (think classically liberal here) embrace free speech and open debate. They don't try to punish those who oppose them. I fear the term conservative is going through one of those transitional phases where the meaning mutates into its opposite.
before this post and related articles, i had a negative-ish view of disney's relationship with local public finance and policy--but then i was enlightened! now it's more like "i can't believe it works this well". not all private employers / entities tho....
What you don't mention explicitly is how unbelievably efficient Disney is at doing almost anything. They don't have an expansive population base, and are therefore reliant upon customers to show up at Disney World to make money. If the sewers don't work, or if the water pipes are lined with lead, or if the fire department doesn't show up quickly and hotels burn down, Disney is going to lose customers. Consequently, they have a huge incentive to make their sewer, electric, water, fire department, police department, etc. great. By always letting the profit motive be their guide (like Jiminy Cricket) Disney proves the point that private firms can provide public goods at least as efficiently as the government. I bet, given the constraints of counties around the Magic Kingdom, the quality of those services will be diminished as a result of all of this. If the statistics you provide are even close to correct, there will not be a 20% increase in taxes. Those governments, and the citizens, won't put up with it.
The concerning thing to me, as someone who is conservative by nature, is how un-conservative DeSantis' move is. It is actually the action of someone seeking to expand the arm of the state. True conservatives (think classically liberal here) embrace free speech and open debate. They don't try to punish those who oppose them. I fear the term conservative is going through one of those transitional phases where the meaning mutates into its opposite.
before this post and related articles, i had a negative-ish view of disney's relationship with local public finance and policy--but then i was enlightened! now it's more like "i can't believe it works this well". not all private employers / entities tho....