Orlando parks avoid property taxes by claiming agricultural use
Posted
To save millions of dollars in property taxes, Walt Disney World has placed grazing cattle on its property, and SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Orlando have gotten into the pine tree growing business. But property appraisers in Orange and Osceola counties say the theme parks, and some hotels in Orlando's tourist corridor, are taking advantage of rules meant to help bona fide farmers by giving them cheaper tax rates on farmland. Theme parks and hotels use the rules to pay lower taxes on properties until the land is ready to be developed, officials in both counties said.
Read more from AP via WFTS/Tampa.
Ya know the old saying, Where theres a loophole, Someone will find it.
Chuck, who only wishes he could pay less taxes.
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Charles Nungester.
Confirmed, Lesourdsville Lake opening for 2003 details soon at Lesourdsville.com
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2003 season kicks off 3/22 w00t!! PKD here I come!
CoasterCount: 42
The parks are being signaled out but it goes on all over Florida, particularly in South Florida. Drive down one of the busiest streets down here and you will see mall, mall, shopping center, car dealership, cows, mall, plaza, movie theater.
Disney is saving, according to the article, $54,000 a year (about 1 full time administrator). I don't think the issue is as significant as this makes it appear.
Shoot, people probably lose $54,000 a year walking around Disney property.
It's not just Florida, developers everywhere use this trick if they can.
But, near my house we had an old farmer who just wouldn't sell, so he sat on a million dollars worth of land next to the mall and took care of his cows because that's what he want to do. And, what he did till the day he died. The last cow named Betsy was a town celebrity.
Disney isn't really screwing the system with that tiny amount, but the hotels and Universal are certainly getting around it. I start to have a problem with it when it goes around the "spirit" of the law, but that's an ambiguous and subjective judgement, so who can make that?
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM
It's legal and the tax man is trying to find a way to get more money.
Wahoo Skipper, That was funny even if it is true. :)
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Charles Nungester.
Confirmed, Lesourdsville Lake opening for 2003 details soon at Lesourdsville.com
Do you have anything real to contribute?
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM
Yes, I do. Tax loopholes have been around forever. Companies aren't the only ones to benefit from them either. The money these parks are saving is the equivalent of an individual using a loophole to save a hundred dollars.
What is the "spirit" of the law? Have you ever been to a courtroom and seen how the law is perverted every day? There is no "spirit" in any laws anymore, just who has the better lawyer. Let's be realistic, O.J.
I know this isn't as big a contribution as a camera of my grass, a DDR thread, a thread with 1000+ replies about nothing, and a link that is called sillynonsense.com but I am trying.
Game, set, match.
Don't get smart there sonny... I wasn't the one who posted a one-liner totally devoid of insight (and eight extra question marks).
The interpretation of any law is subject to the spirit in which it was passed, and if the courts don't see it that way, it's up to the legislators to revise it. The law is far from perfect, but the beauty of our system of government is that it can be changed when and if it isn't used as it was meant to be.
As for Sillynonsense.com... at least I get the irony of the name. You'd think people would be able to tell by the name I don't take myself nearly as seriously, but whatever, go back to playing tennis.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM
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