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

The Taxpayer's Guide to Florida's FY2025-26 State Budget

The Taxpayers’ Guide to Florida’s FY2025-26 State Budget Cover

Florida TaxWatch’s The Taxpayers’ Guide to Florida’s FY2025-26 State Budget explains the Legislature’s $114.8 billion spending plan (after $376 million in line-item vetoes)—a 3.2% decrease from FY2024-25—while maintaining $12.6 billion in reserves. General Revenue (GR) spending rises by $556 million, and the recurring GR base increases by $1.9 billion, even as total positions fall to 111,886 (-1,871).

The Guide highlights major taxpayer impacts: $2.1 billion in tax relief anchored by the final elimination of the Business Rent Tax (~$1.5 billion annual savings for Florida businesses) and a continued focus on debt reduction—$580 million this year plus a new $250 million/year Debt Reduction Program. It also flags the scale of member projects (~1,700, well over $2.5 billion) and the redirection of key environmental funding streams.

  • Education: FEFP totals $29.5B; per-student rises to $9,130 (+$143). Local property taxes cover 71.4% of the increase (~$674M). New Academic Acceleration supplement: $596.7M. Teacher/Instructional compensation: $1.357B.
  • Human Services: Medicaid/TANF appropriations at $36.1B with targeted rate increases; KidCare +$135.8M (209,438 kids). Health Care Innovation revolving loans: $50M. Expanded elder-care access and Alzheimer’s funding ($73.9M).
  • Environment: Dedicated gaming-revenue stream for the Water Quality Improvement (WQI) program is eliminated; WQI funded at $436.5M but used entirely for 314 member projects. Everglades investment: $810.5M. Resilient Florida: $150M. Florida Forever: $18M; Rural & Family Lands: $250M.
  • Transportation: DOT Work Program $13.7B (highways, bridges, resurfacing, transit, ports, aviation, trails). Local member transportation projects total $210.9M (41 vetoes, $38.9M).
  • General Gov & Public Safety: State employee pay raise 2% (min $1,000). My Safe Florida Home $280M. Job Growth Grant Fund $50M. VISIT FLORIDA $80M. Judiciary gains 39 new judges; multiple justice/public-safety IT upgrades.

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Kurt Wenner
Kurt Wenner
Senior Vice President of Research
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