Back in April, a judge ruled that the 2015 property value appraisal of Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort was “unconstitutional and invalid.”
Disney Legal Drama:
- According to the Orlando Sentinel, Walt Disney World is seeking a reimbursement of over $500k after Disney challenged an Orange County appraisal of the EPCOT area resort.
- Filed on Friday in the Orange County Circuit Court, Robert Kelley, Disney’s tax-assessment trial lawyer, submitted a two page motion requesting $518,000 after a Judge ruled that the taxable property value for the Yacht & Beach Club Resort was inflated.
- The amount includes Disney’s legal investigation fees.
- Disney claimed that the property was overvalued by tens of millions of dollars.
- This comes 10 days after OC Property Appraiser Amy Mercado announced she planned to appeal the ruling of Judge Thomas W. Turner.
- The ruling has major repercussions for the surrounding area, as it means Disney has been over paying property taxes on their resorts since the challenged 2015 appraisal. This could amount to around $100 million in tax overpayments in the years since, which would be repaid by the county. Most of which is expected to come from Orange County Public Schools.
- The Judge ruled that the appraiser had factored in Disney’s brand value while evaluating the property.
- Mercado did not state the grounds for her appeal and did not respond to an email from the news source inquiring about her appeal.
- Disney challenged the property value in 2016 when the appraised value of the resort jumped 118% between Jan 1, 2014 and Jan, 1 2015.
- Raising from $154m to $336m, the Judge noted that “there was no material renovation or expansion” to warrant the steep rise in value.
- Judge Turner also noted during the trial “I was somewhat surprised when I was called to do this case as old as it was. I thought it would have been resolved a long time ago, but apparently it hasn’t been.”
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