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

/ Categories: Research, Blog

IDEAS IN ACTION – Be Prepared: Water Quality and Climate Change in Florida

Guest Column By Josiah Neeley

It’s no secret that climate change poses acute risks and costs for Florida. With its extended coastline and geographic position, the state has always been vulnerable
to damage from hurricanes, flooding and sea level rise. While some of the consequences of climate change have been widely circulated in the media and politics, other serious risks have received comparatively less attention. In particular, the risks that rising sea levels and increased flooding pose to Florida’s drinking water supply and to its water infrastructure deserve greater consideration.

Sea levels along the Florida coast have already risen 8 inches since 1950, with the majority of the increase coming in recent decades. Furthermore, the Florida coastline is projected to experience an additional sea level rise of 10 to 12 inches by 2050.2

The future direct effects of this sea level rise are well known. Higher sea levels will impact low-lying coastal areas and make significant portions of the state more prone to flooding. This flood risk will also be exacerbated by changes in weather patterns. Because air can hold more moisture at hotter temperatures, climate change is expected to increase heavy rainfall events in some areas, which is expected to result in more flooding. Paradoxically, though, this extra water can end up reducing the amount of water that is available for human use.

There are two main risks to Florida’s water quality from climate change: salt water intrusion into groundwater supplies and the overloading of waste water systems.

But addressing the consequences of climate change also poses another danger: a risk to the public purse. While some costs from warming are unavoidable, Florida should take care that climate change does not become an excuse for bloated government spending programs or that tax dollars are not wasted on inefficient and needlessly costly responses. The aim of this policy brief is to lay out the likely costs of climate change to Florida’s water system and describe some principles that can help guide the state in adapting to these challenges without breaking the bank.

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