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

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Florida's Higher Ed System Leads the Way

In a recent letter, Governor Scott acknowledged the recognition of Florida’s higher education system by U.S. News and World Report as number one overall in the U.S. Florida also ranked second in terms of affordability, and third in terms of two-year college graduation rates.

One significant reason for this success has been Florida’s use of performance funding, where an institution’s funding is tied to a set of clear and simple metrics, such as graduations rates, degrees awarded, average costs per degree, the percentage of graduates who get jobs after graduating, and their median wages. The State University System implemented its performance funding model four years ago. The Florida College System implemented a similar performance funding model two years ago. The Governor points out in his letter that “[S]tudents are graduating faster with degrees that lead to great careers and are not burdened with decades of debt…”

Florida also received high marks (rank #11) in low debt at graduation. Statewide average debt levels for the Class of 2015 range from $18,850 (Utah) to $36,101 (New Hampshire). The share of graduates with debt ranges from 41 percent (Utah) to 76 percent (New Hampshire). Florida is considered to be a “low-debt” state, ranking 43rd among the states with an average debt level of $23,379 and 53 percent of graduates with debt.

These rankings come at a time when the Florida House and Senate are about $500 million apart on their fiscal year 2017-18 spending plans for higher education. The House spending plan cuts higher education funding by more than $100 million, while the Senate is proposing an increase of more than $300 million for state universities, as well as more money for scholarships. Neither the House nor Senate proposes an increase in tuition, which has not increased during the past three years.

To remain one of the nation’s most affordable higher education systems, Governor Scott’s "Finish in Four, Save More" proposal will, if implemented, freeze tuition and fees at state colleges and universities, and cut fees for Florida’s graduate assistants. 

Florida educators and policy makers have worked hard to achieve a number one ranking for higher education, and there is still more work to be done. It is essential that the state’s final spending plan adequately fund those measures necessary to maintain that ranking. We’ve worked too hard to be number two.

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