Gov. Ron DeSantis said recently that he’s working on a proposal to make sure Central Florida taxpayers aren’t forced to take on the Reedy Creek Improvement District's nearly $1 billion in debt when it is dissolved in 2023.

Experts, however, say it would not be as simple as that.

Attorney Jacob Schumer specializes in local government issues, but when it comes to the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement district, he said he’s never seen anything quite so complicated.

“Separating Reedy Creek’s powers between the two counties would be one of the most complex government transactions I can ever think of,” he told Spectrum News.

During a Monday press conference, DeSantis fielded a question about the matter, answering that the state government would likely assume control of the district to prevent local governments from using it as an excuse to raise taxes.

Schumer said under the current law, the state does not have the ability to take over Reedy Creek — which was established by the Florida Legislature in 1967 to allow Disney World to self-govern.

Specific wording under the law states when there is a dissolution, “the special district transfers the title to all property owned by the preexisting special district to the local general-purpose government.” Schumer said a new bill with specific wording would be needed to get around this.

“It wouldn’t be exactly the state, it would be a new special district with the supervisors maybe appointed by the governor or somebody else appointed by the governor," he said. "So the state would kind of be in charge, but it would still be the special district governing just that little spot where Disney’s property is."

As it stands now, legally, Orange County, Osceola County, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista would be on the hook for Reedy Creek’s nearly $1 billion of debt. However, DeSantis said his office is working on proposals that would make Disney responsible for paying it off.

Schumer said that plan leaves local governments playing a waiting game.

“On the one end, they have to be prepared, because if they don’t get prepared it is going to be a disaster," he said. "But on the other hand, if they do get prepared, if they do spend all that money to get prepared, they are spending a lot of money on something they are pretty sure isn't actually going to happen, so they are in a really difficult spot."

Florida state Rep. Randy Fine, who wrote the House version of the bill to dissolve Reedy Creek that was passed in April, said leaders should be prepared for all possibilities, as nothing is set in stone.

“What my bill does is it says in the absence of passing a new bill, which is what the governor is talking about, in the absence of passing a new bill, all of the liabilities and all of the revenues devolve to the four local governments in which the special district exists,” said Fine.

Spectrum News 13 asked Fine what the governor meant when he said taking over Reedy Creek would be a cash cow for local governments.

Fine said that DeSantis believes even though the governments would get tax revenue from Reedy Creek, officials would likely raise taxes more than they would need to to cover any debt they become responsible for.

However, Fine claimed that right now taxpayers are not at risk of feeling any impact.

He estimated that residents would not see another bill passed until March of 2023 at the earliest.

The specialty district is currently set to dissolve by June 2023.