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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Teen Trendsetters: Making a Difference for Florida's Youth

Teen TrendsettersTM of Florida was initiated by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in 2002 in response to legislation mandating that every child in the third grade must show minimal reading proficiency for grade promotion. The program pairs 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students that are, on average, a half year behind grade level in reading skills with teenage mentors between the 6th and 12th grades, and has grown tremendously since inception, serving 1,750 mentors and 1,740 mentees during the 2015-2016 program year (PY) (September 2015 – April 2016).

Florida TaxWatch conducted a fiscal and economic analysis (including the return-on-investment for state taxpayers) of the Teen TrendsettersTM (TT) program. In doing so, TaxWatch also evaluated the program design, comparing TT program specifics to evidence-based best practices for mentoring programs. Carefully scrutinized program evaluation data indicate that the TT program has a positive impact on the academic, behavioral, and social skills of both the mentors and the mentees, demonstrating the following results for PY2015-2016:

  • 92 percent of senior mentors report graduating, with 79 percent indicating that they plan to attend college;
  • 97 percent of mentees report that their mentor helped them become a better reader;
  • 43 percent of mentees improved their reading skills to grade-level or above by the end of the seven month program;
  • 92 percent of parents reported that their child’s attendance was average or better; and
  • 92 percent of parents reported that their child’s school behavior was average or better.

Florida TaxWatch’s fiscal and economic impact analysis finds that participation in the TT program results in:

  • for senior mentors:
    • $28,330,848 in collective additional lifetime income;
    • $1,054,680 in avoided welfare, prison, and health benefits paid for by the taxpayers;
  • for mentees who achieve at least grade-level reading by the end of the program:
    • $53,804,660 in collective additional lifetime income; and
    • $7,382,760 in avoided welfare, prison, and health benefits paid for by the taxpayers.

In 2015-2016, the TT program received $300,000 in state funding and $776,910 in private funding. For each dollar invested (public and private) into the TT program in FY2015-16, a fiscal return on investment of $7.83 in avoided social program costs for the taxpayers is realized.

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