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

Apportionment Changes Amid Policy Proposals

Apportionment Changes Amid Policy Proposals Report Cover

Apportionment Changes Amid Policy Proposals explains how Florida’s 2020 Census undercount—about 750,000 residents (3.48%)—reduced the state’s political representation and likely cost billions of dollars in federal funding over the decade. The report examines what Florida stood to gain if the count had been accurate and how proposed changes to who is counted could affect future apportionment.

The analysis uses the U.S. Census Bureau’s Post-Enumeration Survey to correct state populations for net coverage error and applies the standard Method of Equal Proportions used for U.S. House apportionment. Three scenarios are modeled: an accurate count of all residents, an accurate count excluding unauthorized immigrants, and an accurate count of citizens only.

In every scenario, Florida gains at least one additional U.S. House seat; in the scenario excluding unauthorized immigrants, Florida gains two. Any added House seat also adds one Electoral College vote, underscoring the importance of an accurate count to Florida’s national influence.

The report notes data limits—estimates for unauthorized immigrants and non-citizens inherit some weaknesses from census-derived products, and the model assumes the same coverage error across groups even though error rates differ by race and ethnicity. These limits may shift state-by-state changes, but they do not alter the core finding: Florida loses out when it is undercounted.

To protect representation and funding in 2030, the report recommends early, statewide support for the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA)—including a Governor’s Office liaison to coordinate with local governments and legislative funding for technical assistance—and early outreach to hard-to-count communities through trusted local partners. Regardless of federal policy debates, these steps can help secure a fair count and the seats and dollars that follow.

Meet the Author:

Meg Cannan
Meg Cannan
Senior Research Analyst
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