Orange County Property Appraiser sues Disney over hotel’s assessment

Hilton Doubletree at 2305 Hotel Plaza Boulevard. (Orange County Property Appraiser)

Orange County Property Appraiser Amy Mercado is going on the offensive and suing Disney over property taxes for a Disney Springs hotel.

In her Orange Circuit Court complaint, Mercado is fighting the Orange County Value Adjustment Board’s (VAB) ruling on the Hilton Doubletree at 2305 Hotel Plaza Blvd.

“The Orange County VAB’s decision is unlawful and invalid and results in an assessment of the subject property that is less than just value,” Mercado said in her lawsuit as she asks the court to throw out the VAB’s decision, reinstate her Office’s previous assessment and order Disney to pay for her attorneys fees.

“For the 2024 tax year, the property appraiser lawfully determined the subject property’s just value to be $30,327,666,” Mercado said in her Friday complaint, as she said her Office used “professionally accepted appraisal practices” to determine the $30 million just value.

However, Disney sought to lower its property taxes when it filed a petition with the VAB.

The VAB dropped the hotel’s just value by $4 million to about $26.3 million, according to a decision reached April 17, Mercado’s Orange County lawsuit said.

Mercado’s Office, her attorney and Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon when Florida Politics reached out.

It appears to be the first time Mercado has sued Disney since she took office in 2020. Usually, it’s the other way around.

Disney has regularly sued Mercado to lower its property tax assessments for years, including filing a dozen complaints just before Christmas 2024 to contest the assessments for its four major theme parks, as well as several hotels, the water parks and other properties.

The dispute can be worth millions of dollars, which means the stakes are high for both The Walt Disney Co. and government entities, like Orange County Public Schools, that depend on tax dollars for funding.