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

Interdisciplinary Pain Management As a Means to Help Address Solvency of the State Employees' Health Insurance Trust Fund

Interdisciplinary Pain Management — Report Cover

Interdisciplinary Pain Management as a Means to Help Address Solvency of the State Employees’ Health Insurance Trust Fund examines how treating chronic pain through integrated, team-based care can both improve outcomes for State Group Insurance Program (SGIP) members and lower overall claims paid by Florida’s State Employees’ Health Insurance Trust Fund. With the Trust Fund projected to face a nearly $1.7 billion shortfall by FY 2029-30 without action, Florida TaxWatch outlines a pragmatic path that reduces costs by treating pain more effectively—not just shifting them to employees.

Traditional pain care in the U.S. is often unimodal (e.g., medication-first), which misses the biological, psychological, and functional dimensions of chronic pain. By contrast, interdisciplinary pain management coordinates medicine, psychology, and rehabilitation in one plan of care. Evidence shows this approach: reduces pain, increases physical function and return-to-work rates, sharply decreases opioid reliance, and cuts high-cost utilization like ER visits, hospitalizations, and surgeries.

Earlier Florida TaxWatch analysis found aligning employee premium contributions with large-employer norms could save the state about $446 million annually. But premium increases alone won’t solve solvency. Pairing premium reforms with interdisciplinary pain management directly targets major cost drivers—chronic conditions among high utilizers—delivering durable savings and better quality of life for state employees and retirees.

Recommendations: (1) Direct the Department of Management Services to pilot an accredited interdisciplinary pain management program within SGIP; (2) require CARF-accredited providers and coordinated oversight; and (3) report results to the Governor and Legislature to guide scale-up if cost and outcomes targets are met. Done right, this shifts Florida from paying more for the same results to paying smarter for better ones.

Meet the Author:

Bob Nave
Bob Nave
Senior Vice President of Research
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