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

Expanding Job Opportunities for Non-Violent Offenders

/ Categories: Op-Eds

With more than‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩ100,000‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩinmates‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩbehind bars,‚Ä≠ ‚ĨFlorida’s correctional population is among the largest in the United States.

One of the primary causes for the high population is that more than two-thirds of offenders are re-arrested and‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩmore than one-in-four‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩreturn to prison within three years of their release.‚Ä≠  ‚ĨWhen these individuals cycle in and out of state and local facilities,‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩthey run up an enormous bill that is shouldered by Florida taxpayers.‚Ä≠ ‚ĨIt costs an average of‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩnearly‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩ$19,000‚Ä≠ ‚Ĩper year to house an inmate‚Ä≠ – ‚Ĩmore than three times the cost of tuition at the University of Florida.‚Ä≠

Floridians Have Historic Opportunity to Control Their Government

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While virtually every Floridian has some interaction with state government,‭ ‬it is easy for the average citizen to feel distanced from the political process of Tallahassee.‭ ‬And it can be easy for our elected leaders to feel distanced from their constituents if they do not regularly hear from the voters.

But every Floridian has a unique opportunity to share suggestions on how to make their state government more efficient and effective.

Florida Students Deserve Higher Bar for Accountability

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Florida students deserve the chance to succeed in their education, their careers and their lives.

Measuring how well our schools are doing is critical to their success. For years, Florida has had clear and transparent school grades. These grades have been used not only to grade our schools, but to provide support for how to improve them.

Florida the New High-Tech Frontier

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Silicon Valley is synonymous with global technology, but could Florida be the next frontier? A new high-tech hub being developed outside Orlando will thrust the Sunshine State into the global advanced manufacturing industry, and promises high-skill jobs, new capital and the influence of a multibillion dollar industry.

Taxpayers Deserve More Than Checking The Box

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Florida taxpayers and their children are facing more than $10.5 billion in debt due to increasingly rich and consistently over-promised government pensions.

These obligations will be paid by taxpayers who don't have access to similar benefits in the private sector, because pension plan beneficiaries take on no risk, yet the taxpayers indemnify losses. State laws have forced hard-working taxpayers into larger losses because of their mandates to increase required local government benefits.

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