Fort Lauderdale now finds itself under the scrutiny of the Florida Department of Government Efficiency, just as the city is bracing for possible passage of a ballot measure in November that would impose statewide property tax cuts.<\/p>\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis created the Florida DOGE task force in February 2025 to identify and eliminate waste and fraud within local governments, state agencies and universities.<\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale received a four-page email from DOGE on Wednesday at 1:04 p.m. demanding the city turn over a long list of documents from fiscal year 2024 through 2026.<\/p>\n
The city has until June 23 to turn over the documents. Financial penalties may accrue for an untimely response or failure to comply with the request, the email warns.<\/p>\n
City Manager Rickelle Williams alerted the commission by email on Wednesday at 5:48 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team will compile and submit the requested information on or before the June 23 deadline, with notification to the City Commission,\u201d Williams wrote.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Steve Glassman told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he welcomes the scrutiny but was surprised by the request.<\/p>\n
Glassman pointed to the fact that the chief auditor for Florida DOGE had visited Fort Lauderdale just two weeks ago and stated that the city appeared to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of surprised,\u201d Glassman said. \u201cI\u2019m wondering why they complimented Fort Lauderdale a couple weeks ago and are now DOGE-ing us. This is a head scratcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Glassman is open to the inquiry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe City Commission has been setting excellent policy,\u201d he said. \u201cI would welcome DOGE to take a look at how management is implementing them. I welcome another set of eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, the primary spokesperson and chief auditor for Florida DOGE, spoke at a news conference in Fort Lauderdale on May 26.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve it or not, the city of Fort Lauderdale is a pretty good steward of taxpayer dollars when it comes to the general fund budget,\u201d he said after getting a question about the city\u2019s plans to spend<\/a> more than $700 million on a new City Hall.<\/p>\n Mayor Dean Trantalis on Thursday also made note of Ingoglia\u2019s remark two weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just two weeks ago that Mr. Ingoglia complimented Fort Lauderdale on being good stewards of the general fund,\u201d Trantalis said. \u201cTherefore, this current request comes as a complete surprise. But we\u2019re happy to complete the audit and substantiate his expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill Brown, chair of the city\u2019s budget advisory board, had just gotten out of a budget workshop Wednesday night when he got a call from the Sun Sentinel inquiring about why the city might have drawn the attention of the Florida DOGE team.<\/p>\n The news took him by surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m dumbfounded,\u201d Brown said. \u201cTwo weeks ago the CFO praised Fort Lauderdale and said there were no issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown questioned the timing.<\/p>\n Cities across the state are warning that sweeping property tax cuts could lead to severe budget shortfalls and dramatic cuts<\/a> to municipal services if voters say yes in November to a tax break. If the measure passes, Fort Lauderdale and other cities stand to lose millions.<\/p>\n \u201cOne has to question why now,\u201d Brown said. \u201cRight when we are in the middle of putting together a budget and the staff is working diligently to get a balanced budget for this year.\u201d<\/p>\n (Article continues below document.) <\/p>\n City officials are in the midst of reviewing the DOGE team\u2019s request for information, according to a statement sent to the Sun Sentinel Wednesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city of Fort Lauderdale received the correspondence from the state of Florida on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, and is currently reviewing,\u201d city spokesman Kevin Pulido said. \u201cThe city is committed to transparency and cooperating with our state officials. We will gather the information requested in the letter and provide a timely response through the appropriate channels.\u201d<\/p>\n Barbra Stern, a frequent critic of City Hall who plans to run for mayor in 2028, said she is glad to see the state finally taking a look at Fort Lauderdale\u2019s spending.<\/p>\n \u201cI welcome it,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been hoping DOGE would look at how we do business in Fort Lauderdale. I\u2019m glad there\u2019s going to be more eyes on our books.\u201d<\/p>\n Stern said she suspects the DOGE team might have taken an interest in Fort Lauderdale after reports all the high-paid new hires<\/a> at City Hall since the city manager came onboard last year.<\/p>\n