LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Leaders from Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake met Thursday to discuss property tax changes affecting off-duty law enforcement services.
The meeting came a day after the Gov. DeSantis-appointed board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District approved a reduction in the district’s property tax millage rate of 6.8%.
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During each of the city meetings, council members unanimously approved a property tax rate that was already in place, prior to what was decided at the CFTOD board meeting, previously known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
A statement was read at each meeting which said council members expressed concern “about the unanticipated announcement to reduce the city’s millage rate and to remove the off-duty sheriff’s law enforcement program from our city’s budget.”
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On Wednesday, the chair of the CFTOD said there was wasteful spending from the previous Disney-controlled board.
Chair Martin Garcia said the district was paying $8 million a year for off-duty deputies that were used exclusively on Disney property.
During Thursday’s meetings council members from Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake said the millage rate already in place was needed to keep off-duty law enforcement services throughout the communities.
Each of the property tax rates is part of upcoming budgets for the CFTOD, Lake Buena Vista, and Bay Lake. Those budgets will be voted on in September.
Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake are separate government entities from the CFTOD, both incorporated in 1967. Disney selects residents to live in mobile home communities, with Bay Lake near Magic Kingdom and Lake Buena Vista near Disney Springs. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, there are about 55 people living in both municipalities.
Both cities contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services, as does the CFTOD.
As News 6′s Mike DeForest reported in February, the budget for law enforcement on Disney property surged around the time of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the gunman’s official target was Disney Springs, but investigators believe he was deterred by the presence of extra sheriff’s deputies.
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