After Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Blaise Ingoglia, hosted a private event March 26 criticizing Flagler County’s budget numbers over the past six years and claiming that $59 million of the 2025-26 budget was “excessive and wasteful spending,” some residents are still waiting for specifics on how the County Commission spent that money.
During the event at the Club at Hammock Beach, Ingoglia called on the local government to “offer immediate property tax relief to the taxpayers” while pointing out that the county’s general fund budget has increased by approximately 119% in the last five fiscal years.
And later the same day, he issued a press release recapping what he said at the event, which was filmed and posted to his YouTube channel.
But the press release never specified which parts general fund budget increased over the last six fiscal years, nor which specific expenditures he considered “excessive” and “wasteful.” However, Flagler County Chair Leann Pennington praised Ingoglia’s message, and reiterated her long-held concerns regarding “rising project costs, increased staffing, and the overall growth of government.”
The county chair also pointed out, as did a March 26 county statement released following Ingoglia’s analysis, that “during the timeframe reviewed, the County took meaningful steps to strengthen its financial position,” including increased reserves, reduction of outstanding debt and an improved bond rating.
Neither Pennington nor the county’s statement addressed the absence of a specific budget analysis in the CFO’s release. When asked if she or other county commissioners had received such a document, Pennington said in an email to The News-Journal that the county has asked for one, “but has not received anything regarding the analysis done by his office.”
It is still unclear whether there are specific expenditures in the county’s budget that Ingoglia’s analysis deems “excessive” and “wasteful.”
Previous coverage: Flagler County chair reacts to state CFO’s budget criticism
Here’s is what we know.
How did Florida CFO arrive at $59M ‘excessive’ spending figure for Flagler County?
Ingoglia’s analysis of Flagler County’s budget is the latest of several he has done for other municipalities across the state.
In October 2025, the CFO blasted Seminole County’s budget for spending $48.4 million more than what he argued the local government should have.
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia criticizes Flagler County’s budget spending during an invitation-only event at the Club at Hammock Beach in Flagler County, March 26, 2026.
Ingoglia said at the time that he reached that number from a basic calculation: He compared how much the county spent in 2019 compared to what it spent in 2025-26, factoring in population growth and inflation. He didn’t mention the inflation rate.
In his March 26 press release, Ingoglia said Flagler County added “80 full-time administrative employees to accommodate a 32,564 increase in population growth” in the last six years. The CFO did not specify which county government positions were filled, whether they were high-level positions, nor what the employees’ salaries were.
With the same idea he applies for Flagler, his argument is that spending in other municipalities is outstripping growth.
Ingoglia’s press release does not specify which parts of the budget are included in the “excessive” $59 million figure. The News-Journal reached out to his office seeking a copy of the CFO’s analysis and with questions. Neither the CFO or his staff responded to either request.
Flagler chair welcomes CFO analysis amid administrative shakeup
Ingoglia’s efforts began amid Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to eliminate property taxes in Florida. Appointed by DeSantis in July 2025 to replace Jimmy Patronis, Ingoglia is running for the seat in November.
The CFO pointed out in the release that Flagler County’s general fund budget has increased by $110,241,921 between fiscal year 2019-20 and FY 2025-26.
“The budget increase we have seen in Flagler County represents the single largest increase we have seen out of the 16 spending reviews have conducted so far, and it should concern every single taxpayer in this county,” Ingoglia said of the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight’s analysis in the press release.
While Flagler may have had the single highest increase among counties reviewed so far, Ingoglia’s releases for the 16 counties only spoke in generalities, so it’s unclear, based on his visit alone, whether Flagler was more “wasteful” than, say, Citrus County, which Ingoglia visited March 24.
In her reaction to the CFO’s analysis, Pennington said his findings reinforce “what I’ve been saying for some time: taxation cannot be the answer to every problem government identifies.”
She also said the board’s recent move to change administrative leadership, by approving a mutual separation agreement with longtime County Administrator Heidi Petito, was the first “necessary” move “to begin addressing these challenges.”
In response to an email March 31 from The News-Journal seeking comment, Petito referred to the county’s March 26 press release, which said in part that the county “welcomes the opportunity to discuss fiscal efficiency and accountability because it is a value we also champion,” while acknowledging “the Florida CFO’s role in this process.”
“Our 16-year record of national budget excellence and our award-winning Transparency Dashboards prove that we don’t just talk about accountability, we build it into every dollar we spend,” the statement said. “We are proud that the state’s new 2026 transparency mandates (HB 1329) mirror the exact standards Flagler established years ago … We will continue to work side-by-side with the state to ensure our taxpayers receive the maximum benefit from every dollar. In Flagler, the books are open, the mission is clear, and our commitment to efficiency and accountability is proven.”
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA’s John Kennedy contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Where in Flagler’s budget is the ‘wasted’ $59M, according to CFO?