Walt Disney World has won a years-long lawsuit and could be entitled to up to $80 million in refunds of taxes paid to the Orange County Public Schools after being overcharged for property taxes at its resorts and other properties. The win is the latest in the ongoing lawsuits that Walt Disney World has filed against the Orange County Property Appraiser dating back to 2015. This particular lawsuit was concerned with the assessment of Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club hotel and convention center. Here’s the latest, according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel.
Walt Disney World Wins Tax Battle
According to a decision from Judge Thomas W. Turner, then-Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh’s assessment of the Yacht & Beach Club was “unconstitutional and invalid”. Judge Turner said that Singh used intangible property such as the value of Disney’s brand, managerial skills, and workforce to unlawfully attribute value to the property.
The assessed value of the resort jumped 118% in one year as a result of Singh’s illegal appraisals. It’s become an annual tradition for Walt Disney World to sue the sitting Orange County Property Appraiser over what it calls unfair assessments. While the lawsuit ruling only applies to Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club for tax years 2015 and 2016, the argument about illegal value determination has been the basis for numerous lawsuits in the years that followed.
In 2023, Walt Disney World filed a dozen lawsuits against the Orange County Property Appraiser, contesting assessed values for its theme parks and hotels. Walt Disney World has sued every year since 2015.
In 2020, Singh lost to Amy Mercado, but Mercado continued using a methodology that Disney says led to continued overcharging in property taxes. Mercado’s lawyers said that the 2015 adjustment (that was just ruled illegal) was correct and that it was the result of Disney enjoying many years of artificially low assessments. Lawsuits against Mercado continue.
In terms of a refund for this particular case, the total amount hasn’t been calculated yet, but current Orange County Property Appraiser Scott Randolph estimates that Disney could be due $2 million in overcharged property taxes. As we already noted this lawsuit applies to just one resort complex, but the win was rooted in illegal methodology. If applied to all of Walt Disney World’s property, Randolph says that Walt Disney World could be due $80 million in refunds. That number could go even higher if the ruling is applied across all of the years that Disney has been suing.
Where this gets complicated is in what entity will be providing Walt Disney World the refund. While its possible that other taxing authorities would owe Disney money, none would be more impacted than the Orange County Public Schools. Florida law says that taxes on a commercial property cannot increase more than 10% per year…unless the assessing authority is a school district. That means that the lion’s share of money that was illegally collected from Walt Disney World went into the coffers of the Orange County Public Schools, and that they would owe Disney millions, and possibly tens of millions in refunded taxes.
Randolph said that he alerted school officials a year ago that the lawsuit was likely not going to end well for Orange County, and that the school system has been saving money during that time. Randolph said that the illegally collected property tax money would be enough to build three new elementary schools.
The topic of Disney suing over property taxes was a hot-button issue when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis performed a takeover of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District. Since-departed members of the Board of Supervisors for the renamed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District rallied against Disney, arguing that Disney has not paid its fair share in taxes. DeSantis himself parroted the complaint, saying that Disney was not paying their fair share. When it comes to property taxes at Walt Disney World, Disney not only paid what was asked, but they paid what was illegally asked. In fiscal year 2022, Disney says that they paid $1.1 billion in state and local taxes. Now, they are due a refund.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!