DeSantis' Disney district cancels controversial deal for new 911 telecoms awarded without a bidding process

Oct 31, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

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Posted: Tuesday October 31, 2023 4:04pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has canceled a deal for Figgers Communication to provide a new 911 telecoms system for the district.

Reedy Creek Improvement District overview

According to comments from CFTOD made to local news outlets, Figgers Communication does not wish to proceed with the deal amid the controversy and would rather earn the contract through a bidding process.

"We welcome the opportunity for an open bidding process and are confident that it will reveal that our proposal to implement the 911 wireless and VOIP emergency services was very reasonable, with no intention of taking advantage of the District," Figgers wrote in the letter published in part by the Orlando Sentinel.

Figgers Communication founder Freddie Figgers is an associate of CFTOD CEO Glen Gilzean, both serving various roles appointed by Florida Governor Ron Desantis, including positions on the Florida Ethics Commission.

As news of the no-bid 911 telecoms contract surfaced, CFTOD canceled a planned board meeting this month, with the next session scheduled to take place on Wednesday, November 15, 2023.

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Stripes16 minutes 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.

Bullseye19671 hour ago

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

mikejs784 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.

Figgy15 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.

Brian5 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.

mikejs786 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.

mkt6 hours ago

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

DCBaker6 hours ago

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

flynnibus6 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

flynnibus6 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

mikejs786 hours ago

I read it. Where are the exhibits?

maxairmike6 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.

mkt7 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.