Politics

DeSantis-Appointed Board Wants to Defund Disney’s Police Budget

OH, THE IRONY

“Eight million dollars was being used for law enforcement services exclusively on Disney properties, and that doesn’t make any sense to me,” a board member said.

A picture of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The DeSantis-appointed board that oversees the special tax district for the land of Walt Disney World Resort is slashing with an $8 million budget for police.
Kevin Wurm/Reuters

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is all against defunding the police—unless those police are at Disney World. The DeSantis-appointed board that oversees the special tax district for the land of Walt Disney World Resort is proposing to do away with an $8 million budget that covered off-duty police officers hired to protect park guests. “There was spending on a number of fronts that was wasteful,” Martin Garcia, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board chairman, said at a Wednesday meeting. “Eight million dollars was being used for law enforcement services exclusively on Disney properties, and that doesn’t make any sense to me.” According to WFTV, the previous Disney-controlled board that managed the Reedy Creek District meant Disney would tax itself to pay for law enforcement services—which the new board wishes to end. “As we are doing more work, it appears that there are a number of other naughty things that this old board did with district funds,” Garcia said.

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