9 Actions Florida Should Take to Help Taxpayers Impacted by Hurricane Ian

1.     Postpone tax notices and waive penalties or interest for late tax filings in affected areas

2.     Extend the date for residents to take advantage of the tax discounts they would normally receive for paying property taxes and special assessments in November and postpone or defer the deadline for property tax installment payments

3.     Protect individual and business taxpayers from the risks for notices that they will likely not receive because their home or business addresses is not accessible anymore

4.     Issue no new audits in severely impacted areas, extend the statute of limitations and postpone existing audits that haven’t reached the assessment stage because these can’t be responded to while entire communities are still recovering

5.     Create procedures for fairly estimating taxes which can’t be calculated because records have been destroyed by the storm, moving away from the current method which significantly overestimates activity if no records are available

6.     Initiate procedures to offer payment plan assistance for late taxes, rather than resorting to the standard collection methods, like liens, levies, or bank freezes

7.     Retroactively apply the recently passed law that provides property tax refunds for residential property rendered uninhabitable as a result of a catastrophic event

8.     Provide tangible personal property relief and allow n on-residential properties rendered uninhabitable to receive property tax refunds

9.     Get Congress to pass a Disaster Tax Relief Act that includes provisions from past packages, including elements such as an Employee Retention Credit, an enhanced casualty loss deduction, and other relief provisions

Download the Recommendations

Other Resources

Florida Disaster.biz
FEMA
Florida Department of Financial Services
Florida SBDC
Disaster Contractors Network
Florida Disaster Fund

Florida TaxWatch Statement on Hurricane Ian Recovery

Community Involvement

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2019 How Florida Counties Compare

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Local taxing and spending is a major part of Florida government operations. More than half of all Florida government revenue (53.1 percent) is raised at the local level, one of the highest shares in the nation. Florida’s 66 county governments (plus Jacksonville’s consolidated government), more than 400 municipal governments, and approximately 1,000 independent special districts spend nearly $80 billion annually.

This publication compares the revenue and expenditure profiles of Florida’s 67 counties to give taxpayers an overview of how their local government stacks up with the rest of the state. The report presents the most recently available data regarding: property taxes, other taxes and fees, county and municipal revenues, county and municipal expenditures, and other related measures. While the focus is on county and municipal governments, we have included information on all types of local jurisdictions, including special districts and school districts, and most data are grouped geographically by county.

Based on the system developed by the Florida Department of Financial Services, known as the Local Government Electronic Reporting (LOGER) System, we classified local government revenues into five categories: property taxes; other taxes; charges for services; permits, fees and special assessments; intergovernmental revenues; and other revenues.

Expenditures are classified as general government, public safety, courts, utility and environment, transportation, economic development, human services, and culture and recreation. This report uses the most recently available data, but the limitations of that data must be considered. Data are self-reported by local governments and errors and omissions can occur. While the classification system helps, there may be some differences in how governments account for similar functions. Also, this report often groups data into geographic county totals in order to derive an average for all residents in the county. Depending on where in the county a person lives, deviations can occur.

This report compares the magnitude and makeup of Florida’s local governments’ fiscal operations. It does not attempt to compare or evaluate levels of service. We hope the information in this guide can help taxpayers make those assessments for themselves, for it is only through knowledge and participation that you can decide if you get the government you pay for.

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