I can find no such rumors, but it is possible that some of the "DVC Funds," other than just sales and room rental profits of DVD, could ultimately be used to pay down Disney debt, and it would be legal. An explanation:
DVCM is the designated manager of all DVC resorts and the preparer of annual budgets. It is also responsible for centralized MS personnel and computer systems relating to members reserving home resorts. BVTC is the DVC company responsible for all trade-outs and trade-ins to and from non-DVC Disney hotels and non-Disney resorts (such as through Interval International). It is also responsible for centralized MS personnel and computer systems relating to members reserving DVC resorts they do not own. (The reality is that separation of those two companies is mostly on paper because the centralized MS mangers and employees for both are mostly the same people and the computer systems are combined.)
All the actual operational and maintenance costs of the individual resorts, including the costs of designated managers at the particular resorts, are covered by specific dues items. Nevertheless, the dues also have a "Management Fee" equaling 12% of all the operational and capital reserves costs in the budget not counting transportation fees and the management fee itself (property taxes are also excluded from the calculation). A designated purpose of the management fee is to cover centralized management and the costs of centralized MS, and the reservation systems to the extent they fall within DVCM's responsibility.
The specific dues item relating to BVTC is the "Disney Reservation Component," a reference to MS personnel and computer systems to the extent used by members to reserve DVC resorts they do not own. The dues amount for that item is $1 annually per member (and it counts joint owners separately to determine the amount, e.g., husband and wife owners of a resort equal 2), BVTC also gets money from the amounts charged to do trade-ins and trade-out from and to non-DVC resorts.
Besides the management and DVC Reservation Component Fees, the financing of centralized MS and computer systems have another major source of income -- breakage income, money made for rentals of DVC rooms still open at 60 days or less from any given arrival date. All breakage income annually is divided as follows: (a) it first goes to set off up to 2.5% of annually budgeted operation and capital reserve dues to members (excluding certain items in the calculation). Income above that 2.5% next goes to BVTC to pay all of its costs plus 5% of those total costs (a built in profit) and, after doing so, also renders the amount collected for the Disney Reservation Component as profit; (c) all breakage income in excess of (a) and (b) then goes to DVCM. I was informed a number of years ago that the actual breakage income had always exceeded the amount that goes to offset dues and the amount needed to pay BVTC's costs plus 5%.
The net result is that there are four possible sources of income that can pay for centralized MS and the reservation computer systems: the management fee, the DVC Reservation Component fee, fees charged by BVTC for trade-ins and trade outs, and breakage income. There are no dues items that actually go up or down according to the total costs incurred for centralized MS and the reservation computer systems, e.g., the DVC Reservation Component is fixed at $1 per member, the 12% management fee is fixed (the actual amount can raise annually if other dues items, e,g. housekeeping , maintenance and security for the resorts, goes up annually). In other words, if DVCM and BVTC spent only $100,000 on central MS and reservation computer systems or $10,000,000, your dues would be the same (indicating that there is a built-in incentive to spend less on centralized reservation systems so more profits can be realized) . And any part of the management fee, DVC Reservation Component, trade-out fees, or breakage income in excess of the 2.5% dues set-off and total costs of BVTC and DVC centralized MS and computer systems, ends up as profit in the books of a DVC entity which can then ultimately be passed along to Disney corporate which could be used to contribute to paying Disney debt.
