DeSantis-backed Disney boss says employees owe $2 million in back taxes on the park pass perks his board stripped away
Kin Cheung and Maya Alleruzzo, Pool/AP Photo
- The head of the Disney oversight board told employees they owe $2 million in back taxes, The Orlando Sentinel reported.
- The district administrator said the board may cover the back taxes.
- The Disney district is at the center of DeSantis' long-running feud with Walt Disney World.
The head of the Ron DeSantis-appointed Disney oversight board told Disney district employees that they owe more than $2 million in back taxes tied to park pass perks they had received before the new board took over, The Orlando Sentinel reported.
Glen Gilzean, the district administrator, sent an email to employees on Friday informing them of the matter, the newspaper reported.
It "has come to the attention of the district administration that the previous leadership chose not to inform staff about their IRS obligations to pay legally owed taxes on season pass benefits," the email said. "This has resulted in our employees owing over $2 million in income back taxes."
Back taxes are taxes that were not paid in full at the time they were due and typically are owed from a previous year.
Gilzean said in the memo that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is trying to cover the back taxes and is waiting for a response from the IRS.
He added that it's "a top priority of our leadership team to ensure that our employees are not penalized for previous failures," according to The Orlando Sentinel.
The $2 million employees owe in back taxes relate to a park perks program that the DeSantis-appointed board eliminated in exchange for an annual $3,000 stipend, The Orlando Sentinel reported. The stipend is subject to bargaining, however, so unionized Disney employees are still awaiting the benefit.
The Disney district is the epicenter of DeSantis' long-running feud with Walt Disney World.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has governed the Disney district since February. It was previously known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) and consisted of Disney-friendly members, but they were replaced earlier this year by DeSantis' hand-picked board members.