{"id":25756,"date":"2025-10-29T22:10:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T22:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/25756\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T22:10:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T22:10:08","slug":"florida-cfo-ingoglia-thanks-seminole-county-drops-tax-scuffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/25756\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida CFO Ingoglia thanks Seminole County, drops tax scuffle"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 After a heated scuffle over taxes earlier this month<\/a>, Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia has finally sent a letter to Seminole County to help resolve the matter.<\/p>\n

The issue first cropped up around the start of the month when Ingoglia accused the Republican-led county of overspending by nearly $50 million<\/a> more than it should have, when accounting for population growth and inflation.<\/p>\n

These accusations came out in the wake of a large property tax hike in the county that was approved in September \u2014 the first one in roughly 16 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Seminole County commissioners OK property tax hike]<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, it seems that local governments are only willing to reduce property taxes when they\u2019re forced to. That\u2019s why property tax reform is so vital,\u201d Ingoglia said at the time. \u201cSeminole County\u2019s refusal to listen to taxpayers is as tone-deaf as it is bewildering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move came amid a greater push by figures like Ingoglia and Gov. Ron DeSantis to uncover \u201cwasteful spending<\/a>\u201d in the state. <\/p>\n

Ingoglia said earlier this year that the mission seeks to highlight examples of poor spending<\/a> to better inform constituents ahead of a planned property tax reform amendment that could appear on the 2026 general election ballot.<\/p>\n

However, Seminole County leaders soon pushed back against Ingoglia\u2019s claims, saying that there were other factors that the CFO had overlooked.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Florida CFO Ingoglia discusses DOGE, \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d and more with News 6]<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile 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,\u201d a letter from the county reads.<\/p>\n

In fact, the letter claims that the county\u2019s total budget has risen by over 50% since 2020. <\/p>\n

\u201cPublic safety is one of the largest cost drivers and the area most affected by inflationary pressures unique to government operations,\u201d the letter continues. \u201cSheriff\u2019s Office deputy pay has increased 60% since 2020 to remain competitive in a constrained labor market.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full letter sent to Ingoglia\u2019s office by Seminole County can be read below.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Ingoglia sent his own letter to Seminole County Chairman Jay Zembower in response to the new information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for providing additional insight and context regarding your budget and your budget process,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cWe appreciate your openness, cooperation, and dialogue in an effort to better understand the details of your expenditures, both recent and historical.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such, Ingoglia wrote, \u201cno further action\u201d was needed on the county\u2019s part.<\/p>\n

News 6 reached out to Seminole County for a statement on Ingoglia\u2019s latest message.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo additional comment \u2014 we are letting the letter speak for itself,” a county spokesperson told News 6.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Ingoglia\u2019s office provided News 6 with the following statement.<\/p>\n

“Contrary to hyperbolic headlines, CFO Ingoglia is not \u201cbacking off\u201d from his office\u2019s calculations and assessment of Seminole County\u2019s excessive and wasteful spending.<\/p>\n

His acknowledgement of the receipt of additional information in no way, shape, or form absolves the Seminole County Commission from overtaxing and overspending residents\u2019 hard-earned tax dollars.”<\/p>\n

Communications Director Sydney Booker, Office of Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia<\/p>\n

You can read through Ingoglia\u2019s full letter below.<\/p>\n

Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 After a heated scuffle over taxes earlier this month, Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,2159,99,1014,8527],"class_list":{"0":"post-25756","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","11":"tag-money","12":"tag-politics","13":"tag-seminole-county","14":"tag-taxes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25756","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=25756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}