Walt Disney World takes up thousands upon thousands of acres in Florida.
And it should come as no surprise that Disney has to pay a LOT of taxes on said acreage.
But, according to The Orlando Sentinel, the amount of money Disney should pay in property tax, is well, to be debated.
Disney is suing Property Appraiser Rick Singh over its property taxes, saying that its 2019 property tax appraisals were too high. The company has filed a dozen lawsuits in the Orange Circuit Court.
According to Singh spokeswoman Beth Watson, “[Walt Disney World] had been undervalued for decades by previous property appraisers.” Meanwhile, Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said, “As we have shared before and as a matter of public record, we have challenged the property appraiser’s assessments and we will continue to dispute the errors by the property appraiser as any property owner in Orange County would do.”
According to Disney’s lawsuit, Singh listed the value for EPCOT at $539 million, Magic Kingdom at $504, Animal Kingdom at $435 million, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at $394 million. Disney didn’t say what it thought its resort’s value was, but called Singh’s numbers “excessive.”
Lawsuits between Disney and the Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office are a regular occurrence. According to the Sentinel, this has been happening every single spring since 2016, and Disney has “dozens of court cases” pending.
When this latest lawsuit gets resolved, you KNOW we’ll keep you updated.
For Disney’s reopening information, click here.
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WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
What do you think of Disney’s latest lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!
Mark says
It’s an annual event.
Barbie Hackney says
I will keep up with this lawsuit. See the same excessive Property tax Appraisals in Cherokee County Texas and Smith County.
Pat says
It’s certainly cheaper to fight it in court and get a lower tax appraisal. Disney has a very good idea of what the market is for the area and it’s cheaper each year to fight the assessments and get it lowered than to accept the government stated value, knowing that it’s in the best interest of the local government to over value the property.