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

Other Resources

Florida TaxWatch Statement on Hurricane Ian Recovery

Community Involvement

2025 MakeMore Manufacturing Summit: Summary Report

2025 MakeMore Manufacturing Summit: Summary Report - Report Cover

Executive Summary

Manufacturing is one of Florida’s leading industries and a key driver of job growth and economic strength, contributing more than $80 billion to Florida’s annual GDP. With more than 27,000 manufacturers—most of them small businesses with fewer than 20 employees—Florida’s manufacturing sector supports more than 430,000 high-wage jobs, with average salaries exceeding $78,000.

Florida TaxWatch was honored to participate in and summarize the seventh annual MakeMore Manufacturing Summit, held October 22–23, 2025, in Downtown Orlando. Hosted through collaboration among FloridaMakes and key statewide partners, the Summit convenes leaders across Florida’s manufacturing ecosystem to share best practices and focus on the challenges and opportunities shaping the sector—market dynamics, economic trends and policy, workforce needs, and new technologies that can improve competitiveness, productivity, and performance.

Key Takeaways

  • Manufacturing is a major economic engine: Florida’s manufacturing sector delivers large-scale GDP impact and supports hundreds of thousands of high-wage jobs across the state.
  • Most manufacturers are small: The sector is driven by thousands of smaller employers—making practical support for growth, talent, and technology adoption essential.
  • The Summit is a solutions forum: MakeMore convenes industry and partners to identify actionable strategies that strengthen competitiveness, productivity, and technological performance.
  • Workforce and technology are central themes: Discussions emphasize talent development and adoption of new tools and innovations to keep Florida competitive.

Bottom line: Florida’s manufacturing future depends on scaling what works—strong talent pipelines, smarter technology adoption, and coordinated support that helps manufacturers compete and grow.

Meet the Author:

Bob Nave
Bob Nave
Senior Vice President of Research
Lead Author
LinkedIn

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