A board appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the special tax district for Walt Disney World is asking the state’s inspector general to probe whether officials on the former board took millions in taxpayer dollars to pay for resort season passes and other perks.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District told the inspector general’s office on Monday that the board that used to oversee the Orlando theme park’s district paid Disney more than $2 million last fiscal year for its members and employees to have season passes, as well as discounts on hotel stays, merchandise, food and beverages.
Board members and employees of what was then known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District racked up $492,382.96 for tickets, $16,837.39 for merchandise discounts, $4,969.52 in food and beverage discounts and $3,764.48 in a water parks discount, according to a copy of the 2022 fiscal year first quarter invoice obtained by The Post.
Reedy Creek employees also paid thousands of dollars over that same period for nights at the Disney Yacht Club Resort, the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney Coronado Springs Resort, per the invoice, which covers the period from Oct. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31. 2021.
The final operating budget for Reedy Creek’s fiscal year 2022 listed $169,012,258 in total revenues and $178,736,100 in total expenditures, with 382 personnel. No lines item for passes or discounts were listed.
The DeSantis-appointed board combed through thousands of documents to investigate whether its predecessors, who were appointed by Disney, unethically received the perks.
The 1967 law that created the special tax district capped board members’ compensation at $100 per month, raising further questions about the lawfulness of the arrangement.
Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Administrator Glen Gilzean has moved to end the benefits, except for district employees who need resort passes to work.
The referral is the latest step in a legal feud between the Florida governor and the entertainment giant, which began last year with Disney CEO Bob Iger speaking out against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act.
The law, known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, prohibited classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade.
DeSantis responded to Iger’s criticism by stripping Disney World of its self-governing authority and establishing five new board members to oversee the 27,000-acre resort district.
The governor’s handpicked board sued Disney earlier this year over an 11th-hour attempt to undermine their authority, claiming their predecessors made a “backroom deal” to help the company retain development rights.
Further lawsuits have been filed by the House of Mouse at the state and federal levels in an effort to regain control of the district.
Last week, Disney also sued the DeSantis-appointed board for damages days after the Florida governor had urged the company to “drop the lawsuit” because they were “going to lose.”
DeSantis has taken shots from opponents in the 2024 Republican presidential primary over the battle with Disney, including frontrunner and former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The Florida governor is currently in a distant second place with 14.9% support in the GOP nominating contest, according to the RealClearPolitics average, with Trump at 55.8%.