DeSantis' CFTOD cancels today's meeting amid reports of a million-dollar deal with a close associate of the board's CEO

Oct 25, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

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Posted: Wednesday October 25, 2023 9:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Today's planned board meeting of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has been canceled.

A CFTOD meeting was planned for today but has now been cancelled

The cancellation comes alongside news that CFTOD CEO Glen Gilzean reportedly awarded a million-dollar 911 service contract to a close associate of Gilzean and Ron DeSantis, Freddie Figgers. Figgers is also a member of the ethics commission that Glen Gilzean was a part of until he was forced to leave the position due to a conflict of interest with his position as CEO of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

WFTV9 in Orlando reports that according to emails, CFTOD employees contacted Figgers as the CEO of Figgers communication consulting firm for his services in early August. Then, less than a week later, a contract was sent over for approval, and the deal was done without open bids from other companies.

According to a notice posted on the CFTOD website, all public hearings and other agenda items previously scheduled for the October 25, 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting are continued to the regular CFTOD Board of Supervisors meeting set for 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 15, 2023.

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Stripes1 hour ago

If this was an objective report, they would’ve spent most of the ink detailing how uniquely terrible and anti-American the current governance structure is. Instead, they babble on about how the new structure has brought accountability to the district. Oh yeah? Accountability to whom? “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” -Thomas Jefferson There is no consent from the governed here, Mr. Jefferson.

Bullseye19672 hours ago

You are a rock star!!!!! Thank you for all the gems you find!

mikejs785 hours ago

There's an exemption in the IRS code for companies giving their employees a benefit that involves a company's own product and essentially results in no additional cost for the company. An example given by the IRS is airlines giving free airline tickets to employees on non-full flights - the "excess capacity" exemption. So Disney themselves are likely ok.

Figgy16 hours ago

What a lot of people, looking at you the organization formerly known as RC, is that what was/is considered taxable has changed over the past 60 years. What may need to be counted as income since the last overhaul may not have before then.

Brian6 hours ago

RCID would have been responsible for withholding the tax, just the same as they would for other fringe benefits. This amount would also be included as part of the employee's W-2 statement. I don't believe that their public sector status would have any bearing on its taxability.

mikejs787 hours ago

So I looked at the exhibit which the board packet claimed that Disney administered the payroll and that it was once paid for by Disney. There is no supporting documentary evidence for this in the relevant exhibit (2-B). The exhibit claims that Disney ran payroll until 1998, and that it was free until then. This is supposedly based on interviews with "Employee 1" and "Employee 2". All of the documentary evidence is from 2018-2021.

mkt7 hours ago

Good news. Florida doesn't have an income tax, and DeSantis's voice has no power at the IRS.

DCBaker7 hours ago

There are individual links for each exhibit on the CFTOD website - you can find them all at this link.

flynnibus7 hours ago

The portion i am referring to is in the board packet. But dcbaker linked to the website with all the exhibits as well

flynnibus7 hours ago

It’s a complicated topic that includes specific details about the employer… the benefit… etc. it’s very hard to generalize or compare across situations. Best handled by the accountants

mikejs787 hours ago

I read it. Where are the exhibits?

maxairmike7 hours ago

That’s what gets me. This feels like something that is either so commonplace that the rules aren’t clear enough/there’s no desire to enforce outside of digging for dirt, or there’s some serious misrepresentation happening by the CFTOD and/or their hired guns.

mkt8 hours ago

There may be some regulatory exceptions to the rule, but I'm far too tired and have stopped caring enough to bother looking up specifics. In my case, I was given Detroit tigers tickets and NAIAS tickets from work and they appeared as "income" on my next paystub with taxes withheld. However, my employee discount on a car purchase - whose value was far higher than the tickets - was not considered taxable income.