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

Budget Watch - Analyzing the Governor's FY2018 Budget Recommendations

Analyzing the Governor's FY2017-18 Budget and Tax Recommendations

Governor’s Proposed Budget Snapshot

  • Total Funding - $83.474 billion—$1.189 billion (1.4 percent) more than current year spending 
  • State Employees – 113,758 state employee positions, 327 more than currently exist.  The Governor is recommending 596 new positions, while eliminating 269 (mostly vacant) positions.  There is no across the board pay increase for state employees, but the Governor is again recommending a three-tiered bonus system through which an employee could receive up to $1,500.  Pay increases for state corrections and law enforcement officers are also recommended.
  • Tax Cuts - $618.4 million in state and local tax cuts, mostly from a reduction in the business rent tax.  Since most of the cuts do not take effect until January 2018, the first-year impact to the state is only $295.1 million.  There is a recurring $420.2 million impact to the state.   The Governor also proposes to cut various fees by $7.5 million.
  • Reserves - $5.0 billion, including $1.3 billion in unallocated General Revenue (cash) reserves.
  • Trust Fund Sweeps - $319.5 million, most of it ($224.0 million) from state and local affordable housing trust funds.  The State Transportation Trust Fund is not swept.
  • Bonding – The Governor proposes to only issue new bonds for transportation projects (up to $369 million).
  • Tuition – No tuition increase for colleges or universities.

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