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: Blog

SGIP Review Saves Taxpayers Millions

Currently, enrollees in the state group health insurance plan register eligible dependents (spouses and children) through a passive enrollment process which allows employees to roll over their benefits from year to year without requiring them to assess their plan options or learn more about their benefits. As a result, many ineligible dependents continue to receive benefits.

A 2014 report by Florida TaxWatch’s Center for Government Efficiency  recommended that the Legislature appropriate funding for a comprehensive audit of eligibility status of dependents covered under the State Group Insurance Program (SGIP)to avoid unnecessary costs paid for ineligible recipients.

This recommendation was echoed in a June 2016 report by the Constitutionally-mandated Government Efficiency Task Force, which recommended that the Legislature appropriate funding for a comprehensive audit of eligibility status of dependents covered under the SGIP and switch from a passive enrollment process to an annual active enrollment process to avoid unnecessary costs paid for ineligible recipients. The Task Force estimated that, based upon the average annual per dependent cost and average dependent enrollment for plan year 2014), every 1 percent of dependents found to be ineligible would save the state an estimated $8.7 million. Based on the industry average of 8 percent of covered dependents in a given plan found to be ineligible, the dependent eligibility audit would save the state an estimated $69.6 million annually.

The 2017 Legislature authorized the Department of Management Services to use the unexpended balance of funds from the State Employees Health Insurance Trust Fund for the procurement of a third-party eligibility verification service to perform the dependent eligibility audit. With the audit nearing completion, the Department of Management Services reported today that 1,825 ineligible dependents have been dropped from the SGIP, saving close to $9.5 million.

TaxWatch commends the Legislature and Governor Scott for acting on the recommendation of TaxWatch and the Government Efficiency Task Force to remove ineligible dependents from the state health insurance program.

In January 2019, the Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate will once again appoint members to the Government Efficiency Task Force. TaxWatch looks forward to working with the 2019-20 Government Efficiency Task Force to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency of government operations and reduce the costs of government.

 

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