Could this be Ron DeSantis' Big Goof?
I predict that stripping Disney's great 'privilege' to manage its own infrastructure as punishment for corporate free speech - an act of malice without forethought - is going to be a long lasting bugaboo for the budding Strong Man.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District is a solution to a common problem for land developers, where local governmental authorities (and property owners) won't foot the bill for upfront infrastructure cost - the developer has to agree pay for that before being allowed to proceed. In the case of subdivisions, a deal is often struck where the public will assume the responsibility for maintenance of the roads, sewers, water, etc at some time in the future when the tax base resulting from the development has grown enough to cover the costs. Sometimes no deal is made (on the assumption that the infrastructure will always be the burden of the property owners), but the new residents of the subdivision eventually get to be plentiful (and loud) enough that they 'persuade' the county (or whomever) to take it over..."What are we paying property taxes for if we ain't getting services!?!?"
It's a novel concept that being on the hook for services (including police protection, and more than the short list above) is regarded as a 'privilege'.
In the instance of a mega-development like Walt Disney World, where there was not going to be an increase in the property tax base from new home buyers, that the transition to assumption of the liability to pay for services would never pass from the corporation to the local county government. Disney would pay, either by directly providing the services, or by pay taxes to the county to do it. Considering the specialized nature of the services needed, it is unlikely that a normal county would be equipped, or competent, to be the provider.
In their haste to punish Disney, the Republicans (led by His Highness, Exalted Anaconda of the Everglades) fell for the ConROT notion that being responsible for community services was a privilege, and cancelling that privilege was an easy cruise missile to launch against their rich nemesis.
But alas, and alackaday, it was the first shot in a classic war, doomed to end as they all do...
War, at first, is the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off. -Karl Kraus, writer (28 Apr 1874-1936) What's Next?
