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

Florida Sheriffs’ Offices Staffing Analysis

Florida Sheriffs’ Offices Staffing Analysis Report Cover

In May 2025, Florida TaxWatch and the Florida Sheriff Association conducted a joint survey to local sheriff offices to learn more about law enforcement’s workforce challenges.

What are the primary roles of deputy sheriffs?

  • For all counties, a significant amount of a deputy sheriff’s time is spent on emergency or non-emergency calls for service.
  • Most respondents noted an average response time under ten minutes for emergency calls for service and under 15 minutes for non-emergency calls for service.
  • More than two-thirds of all respondents reported a significant or slight increase in average response times over the past five years.

What models do local Sheriff’s Offices use to determine staffing needs?

  • Workload-based staffing models determine staffing needs based on local demands; however, the models require more time and money to complete than other models.
  • These models were most commonly used by respondents from medium counties.
  • For small and large counties, most respondents use staffing models based on current budget levels or past practices.

What challenges do local Sheriff’s Offices face in recruiting and retaining deputy sheriffs?

  • Small counties have the highest percentage of respondents reporting a shortage of deputy sheriffs (85 percent).
  • Among all counties, lack of applicants and qualified applicants were some of the most commonly cited recruitment issues.
  • Among small and medium counties, a third of respondents reported that most deputy sheriffs have a tenure of less than three years.
  • Small and medium counties seem to struggle more than large counties with deputy sheriffs leaving for financial reasons.

What funding needs influence a sheriff’s ability to hire sheriff deputies?

  • Among all respondents, the cost of vehicles and vessels was most commonly listed as a budget concern when hiring new staff.
  • Most respondents reported that their local government provided enough funding.
  • The respondents that claimed funding needs were left unmet shared a few characteristics: all of them were located in small counties, most of them listed uncompetitive salaries and benefits as their biggest hiring challenge, and most of them reported not having enough staff to satisfy local demands for service.

Looking ahead, what actions can be taken to help remedy staffing challenges?

Law enforcement is struggling to overcome wage competition amid a limited talent pool. Looking ahead, local and state government must consider ways to expand the talent pool and more accurately align staffing needs with local demand.

Meet the Author:

Meg Cannan
Meg Cannan
Senior Research Analyst
LinkedIn

Documents to download

Print
1059 Rate this article:
No rating