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Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia displays a sign Tuesday morning indicating the amount of dollars of what he calls “wasteful spending” he and his staff have identified within Citrus County government. Ingoglia held a press conference at the Realtors Association of Citrus County, putting a spotlight on his priority \u2014 taxpayer waste.<\/p>\n
Matthew Beck\/Chronicle photo editor<\/p>\n
{p dir=\u201dltr\u201d}Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia came to Citrus County on Tuesday morning and delivered a jolt to attendees at a press conference: the county has wasted taxpayer money \u201cto the tune of $39.2 million.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also highlighted another striking figure: Citrus County has added 278 full-time government employees over the past six years to serve a population increase of just 15,314.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Ingoglia told the crowd gathered at the Realtors Association of Citrus County in Lecanto.<\/p>\n
Ingoglia has been traveling across Florida, holding press conferences in county after county to present his findings on what he calls wasteful local government spending based on his budget analysis formula.<\/p>\n
The numbers, unveiled publicly for the first time, drew murmured gasps and prompted county commissioners to call for answers from County Administrator Stever Howard.<\/p>\n
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Elected officials, including County Commissioner Jeff Kinnard, Schools Superintendent Scott Hebert, County Commissioners Rebecca Bays, Janet Barek and Diana Finegan sit in the front row of the press conference Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia held at the Realtors Association of Citrus County Tuesday morning. The CFO identified more than $39 million of what he calls “wasteful spending” within county government.<\/p>\n
Matthew Beck\/Chronicle photo editor<\/p>\n
Commissioner Janet Barek said that one place to begin right-sizing government is Howard\u2019s salary, which she called excessive at almost $225,000 annually. She plans to raise the issue at the next commission meeting.<\/p>\n
She added that most of the 278 new employees have been hired during Howard\u2019s tenure and, along with what she described as an overreliance on consultants. She said changes are needed.<\/p>\n
Howard did not attend the workshop because he is on a cruise, Commission Chairwoman Diana Finegan said. When he gets back, she plans to meet with him about his hires.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to know about these employees and what positions they serve,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Finegan said the $39 million figure did not surprise her, citing constituent concerns about rising taxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCitrus County can do better \u2013 we absolutely can do better,\u201d she said. \u201cThe five of us (commissioners) need to rally together and make this stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Jeff Kinnard said one of the largest recent expenditures was $12 million-$13 million for road resurfacing, which was driven by public demand.<\/p>\n
Still, he acknowledged tough decisions ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the CFO pulls out those numbers, you\u2019ve absolutely got to look at it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia addresses a group Tuesday morning at the Realtors Association of Citrus County in Lecanto.<\/p>\n
Matthew Beck\/Chronicle photo editor<\/p>\n
By the numbers<\/p>\n
Ingoglia said his office calculated the $39 million figure using a formula he has applied across Florida: start with the pre-COVID (2019-20) budget, adjust it annually for population growth and inflation, and estimate a \u201creasonable\u201d current budget.<\/p>\n
That estimate is then compared to actual spending, with any excess deemed wasteful. In Citrus County, the budget grew from $106 million in 2019 to $182 million in 2025.<\/p>\n
Statewide, he said, his office has identified $1.98 billion in \u201cwaste\u201d using this method.<\/p>\n
Other highlights<\/p>\n
Ingoglia, citing fiscal-year budgets from 2019 to 2025, included these highlights:<\/p>\n
Population increased by 15,314 (10 percent), while 278 full-time employees were added. Of those, 64 were first responders.<\/p>\n
The general fund, supported by taxpayers, grew by $76.8 million, a 73 percent increase in six years.<\/p>\n
That growth equates to about $5,000 in added budget per new resident, or $20,000 for a family of four.<\/p>\n
Ingoglia criticized local spending practices, saying officials promote affordability while showing \u201czero fiscal restraint\u201d and treating taxpayers like an \u201cendless ATM.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal government will not control itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that many local officials are surprised when confronted with such figures, but said the path forward is clear: budgets must be reduced because \u201cthe people have had enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Property tax reform<\/p>\n
Ingoglia repeatedly tied his findings to the push for property tax reform.<\/p>\n
\u201cProperty tax reform is going to come and local government is going to have to come back and right-size their government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He supports Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 push for a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to limit or restructure property taxes.<\/p>\n
The goal is to ease the burden on homeowners while shifting local governments toward more efficient spending and alternative revenue sources.<\/p>\n
Ingoglia maintains that existing budgets contain enough excess to cut taxes without reducing core services, arguing that trimming unnecessary spending can preserve funding for police, fire, and schools.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next<\/p>\n
County commissioners are expected to take up Ingoglia\u2019s findings at their next meeting.<\/p>\n
Before the CFO\u2019s remarks, Jeff Kottkamp, president and CEO of the Florida TaxWatch, addressed the audience and expressed support for identifying government inefficiencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have every right to question what the government is doing with your money,\u201d Kottkamp said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia displays a sign Tuesday morning indicating the amount of dollars of what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-204317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}