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

/ Categories: Research, Health Care

Analysis of Florida's Behavioral Health Managing Entities Model

Florida administers the delivery of behavioral health services to the indigent and uninsured through what is referred to nationally as a regional model. In Florida, this regional model is managed by a group of nonprofit organizations called Behavioral Health Managing Entities (BHMEs). This model was designed to promote access to care and service continuity, be more efficient and effective, and streamline the administrative process to create cost efficiencies and provide flexibility to better match services to needs.

Florida’s behavioral health system has gone through several transformations to address the changing needs of the communities it serves. During this process, the system has faced challenges as well as seen significant improvements.

This paper analyzes the BHME model by exploring the history of Florida’s BHME model, BHME models in other states, and the benefits and limitations of the model. The analysis concludes with several recommendations for the continued improvement of Florida’s BHME model.

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