Economic relief may be on the way for southwest Florida homeowners who suffered significant damage from Hurricane Ian.
Governor Ron DeSantis, while speaking in Matlacha on Wednesday, mentioned that the legislature would likely look at property tax relief for hurricane impacted homeowners in its December special session.
It’s not clear what any sort of economic relief would look like.
After Hurricane Michael hit the Florida panhandle in 2018, the legislature erased tax payments on destroyed property.
“If someone’s damage rendered the property uninhabitable for the last 90 days then after they’ve paid their taxes, and economic relief is in fact what comes out of special session, they can expect a refund on the taxes that they’ve paid,” said Noelle Branning, the Lee County Tax Collector.
Branning encourages homeowners to be in contact with both the tax collector’s office and the property appraiser’s office to ensure they can get refunds if they are issued.
Property tax bills will hit mailboxes in the coming days, full payments are due by March 31st.
“There are a lot of questions people are going to have when they receive their bill and they say ‘wow, my house isn’t here anymore,’” Branning said.
