SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Earlier this month, Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia blasted Seminole County after it approved its first property tax hike in nearly two decades.
This week, the county finally released its response.
Ingoglia had originally announced that the county was spending $48 million more than it should have, when accounting for population growth and inflation.
“Unfortunately, it seems that local governments are only willing to reduce property taxes when they’re forced to. That’s why property tax reform is so vital,” Ingoglia said. “Seminole County’s refusal to listen to taxpayers is as tone-deaf as it is bewildering.”
But Seminole County officials released a letter on Monday responding to Ingoglia’s claims, saying that his analysis hadn’t taken into account a few other factors.
[BELOW: Seminole County commissioners OK property tax hike]
“While that assumption may work in theory, it overlooks state-imposed mandates; essential service demands; and community-supported programs that drive legitimate cost growth well beyond population and inflation,” the letter reads.
In fact, the letter claims that the county’s total budget has risen by over 50% since 2020.
“Public safety is one of the largest cost drivers and the area most affected by inflationary pressures unique to government operations,” the letter continues. “Sheriff’s Office deputy pay has increased 60% since 2020 to remain competitive in a constrained labor market.”
That breakdown and the full letter can be read below:
Ingoglia’s criticisms come amid a crackdown by the state on “wasteful spending” by local governments in a greater move to reduce property taxes statewide.
However, such a move would require an amendment to the state’s constitution, which means that at least 60% of Florida voters would have to get on board.
The goal, according to figures like Ingoglia and Gov. Ron DeSantis, is to “arm people with the information” in preparation for a property tax amendment he expects to go on the ballot in 2026.
A few of the examples of “wasteful spending” in Central Florida recently highlighted by Ingoglia include the following:
City of Orlando
Spent $460,000 since 2020 to count trees as part of the city’s “tree inventory”
Spent $150,000 over three years to help undocumented immigrants evade deportation
Spent money on a poet laureate program
Paying nearly $70,000 for hot yoga classes for employees
Spent money on employee training regarding microaggressions and advanced energy equity
Orange County
Spent $223,000 for LGBT youth services that promote gender ideology to youth populations
Paid $240,000 to a left-wing urban planning firm that carries out its activities from a “race, social and health equity perspective”
[BELOW: Orange County leaders react to State DOGE Audit]
Florida politicians like DeSantis and Ingoglia argue that property taxes place an undue burden on homeowners, who have already taken on all of the other burdens that come with homeownership. Worse yet, tax incidence means that the cost of these taxes could even end up falling downstream to lower-income renters who make use of these properties.
On the other hand, property tax proponents assert that a reduction to the property tax would require an increase to consumption-based taxes, which may have a disproportionate impact on lower-income consumers and those who don’t own property.
Furthermore, some local leaders have said that even with the massive growth in spending over the past few years, there’s still barely enough funding to cover necessary expenses.
Regardless, Seminole County Commission Chairman Jay Zembower told News 6 that officials were caught off guard by Ingoglia’s initial comments.
“Nobody reached out to us until this press conference,” Zembower said. “My fellow commissioners were taken aback by it, as well as the constitutional officers of Seminole County.”
He added that the commission spent more than a year reviewing the budget and even brought in interns from Florida State University to apply artificial intelligence techniques in hopes of identifying unnecessary spending.
“This county commission, not only did they scrub this budget for over a year, our staff did,” he continued. “We even brought in interns to apply AI techniques to the budget for the purpose of trying to find anything we didn’t find or staff didn’t find.”
In response to Zembower’s letter, Ingoglia’s office told News 6 the following:
“It appears that Seminole County is being disingenuous with the time that they’ve given us to review their claims as they are with their excuses for their wasteful and excessive spending.
The fact of the matter is we have been in receipt of their letter for a little over two business days. While we are in the process of reviewing the items, it is disingenuous on Seminole County’s part to say that they would not fund core public safety functions such as the sheriff’s office, jail or court support, without a state mandate.
When we are finished with the review, we will advise Seminole County leaders.”
Office of Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia
In the meantime, several state lawmakers have proposed property tax reform amendments for consideration during next year’s Legislative session. You can read more on these new bills here.
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