Disney files lawsuit over property tax assessments

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are suing over their property tax assessments from 2016, calling them “excessive.”

Disney filed nearly a dozen lawsuits at the end of last month in Orange Circuit Court, arguing the assessments by Orange County Appraiser Rick Singh exceeded their properties’ fair market value and incorrectly “included the value of certain intangible property in the assessments.”

“The increases in the assessments of our property are unreasonable and unjustified,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement. “Similar to other property owners in Orange County, we have no choice but to take action to dispute these errors by the property appraiser. We look forward to presenting our case in court.”

It’s not the first time the theme parks have sought to reduce their land values. In October, SeaWorld, Universal Orlando and Disney sued Singh, arguing their properties’ taxes were too high.

Singh vowed to fight them in court at the time, saying, “We hold their feet to the fire."

UCF Hotel Venture, which is a partnership between Universal and Loews Hotels, is also disputing the assessments of four hotels — Royal Pacific, Hard Rock, Portofino Bay and Cabana Bay, according to recently filed lawsuits in late May and this month.

Named in Disney’s latest lawsuits are Singh; Tax Collector Scott Randolph; Leon Biegalski, the executive director of the Florida Department of Revenue as well as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the Disney-controlled government agency that collects its share of taxes from the Disney properties.

Disney is asking for “proper” fair market and assessed values to be determined so it can receive a new tax bill in addition to reimbursement for courts costs.

Singh assessed Disney’s Epcot at $446 million, Magic Kingdom at $437 million and Hollywood Studios at $339 million, the lawsuit said.

There were a slew of other Disney properties included in the lawsuits from the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was assessed at $153 million, to the Caribbean Beach Resort assessed at $209 million, according to court documents.

Singh declined to comment on pending litigation.