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

Download the Recommendations

Other Resources

Florida Disaster.biz
FEMA
Florida Department of Financial Services
Florida SBDC
Disaster Contractors Network
Florida Disaster Fund

Florida TaxWatch Statement on Hurricane Ian Recovery

Community Involvement

/ Categories: Releases

Florida TaxWatch to Honor Indian Ridge School and Rosenwald Elementary School Principals with 2022-23 Principal Leadership Awards on Thurs., March 16

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tues., March 14, 2023

CONTACT: Aly Coleman Raschid, aly@on3pr.com, 850.391.5040

 

MEDIA ADVISORY: Florida TaxWatch to Honor Indian Ridge School and Rosenwald Elementary School Principals with 2022-23 Principal Leadership Awards on Thurs., March 16

 

West Palm Beach, Fla. – On Thurs., March 16, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) will honor Indian Ridge School Principal Eugene Ford and Rosenwald Elementary School Principal Bruce Hightower with the Florida TaxWatch 2022-23 Principal Leadership Award (PLA), which identifies Florida’s most effective principals in high-risk K-12 public schools, recognizes and rewards their work, and promotes their transformational practices throughout the state. 

 

During the two separate ceremonies, Principals Ford and Hightower will also each be awarding a deserving student with full two-year Florida Prepaid College Scholarship, made possible by Florida TaxWatch.

 

Media are invited to attend. Please coordinate with Aly Coleman Raschid via email at aly@on3pr.com or by phone 850.391.5040.

 

WHAT:

Florida TaxWatch Principal Leadership Award Ceremonies

 

WHEN:

Ceremony 1

Thurs., March 16

10 a.m.

 

Ceremony 2

Thurs., March 16

1 p.m.

 

WHERE:

Ceremony 1

Indian Ridge School

1955 Golden Lakes Blvd.

West Palm Beach, FL 33411

 

Ceremony 2

Rosenwald Elementary School

1321 Martin Luther King Blvd.

South Bay, FL 33493

 

WHO:

Ceremony 1

Eugene Ford, Principal, Indian Ridge School

Edward Tierney, Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Schools, School District of Palm Beach County

Kim Harris, Vice President and Treasurer, J.M. Rubin Foundation

Kate Cotner, Principal Attorney, FP&L

Sebastian Leon, External Affairs Manager, TECO Energy

Bob Nave, Senior Vice President of Research, Florida TaxWatch

 

Ceremony 2

Bruce Hightower, Principal, Rosenwald Elementary School

Edward Tierney, Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Schools, School District of Palm Beach County

Jasmine Govan, Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, FP&L

Sebastian Leon, External Affairs Manager, TECO Energy

Bob Nave, Senior Vice President of Research, Florida TaxWatch

 

About the Principal Leadership Awards Program

Established by Florida TaxWatch (FTW) in 2013, the Principal Leadership Awards (PLA) program serves to acknowledge and reward educational leaders who are creating meaningful change in their students’ lives, while also promoting their uniquely effective practices among their peers. This program, which is the only one of its kind nationwide, recognizes nine of Florida’s most successful principals from high-risk K-12 public schools across the state (three principals each from elementary, middle, and high schools, including traditional and charter public schools). Principals are selected based on weighted Department of Education data, not through nominations.


Additionally, FTW is partnering with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation and private corporate sponsors to provide one student from each winner’s school with a two-year Florida College Plan Scholarship. The winning students – who find out about the scholarship during a surprise announcement the day of the award presentation – are selected by their principal and must meet several criteria that would traditionally make attending college, let alone paying for it, a significant challenge. Through these scholarships, this transformational program is able to change deserving students’ lives and help close the achievement gap.

 

The PLA program is supported by generous sponsors, including: The J.M. Rubin Foundation, The Florida Lottery, Florida Prepaid, Charter Communications, FBMC, Florida Coalition for Children, FICPA, FP&L, Gunster, Helios, Kyra Solutions, Maximus, TECO Energy, Walmart, Dominic and Debbie Calabro, Steve and Linda Evans, and Tony and Allison Carvajal.

 

For more information, including a full list of the 2022-23 PLA winners, click here.

 

About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute for more than forty years and the trusted eyes and ears of Florida taxpayers, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on citizens and businesses. FTW is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants and does not accept government funding. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled FTW to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the citizens it serves since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org. 

 

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