{"id":58842,"date":"2025-11-24T14:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T14:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/58842\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T14:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T14:57:10","slug":"in-tampa-county-leaders-say-florida-doge-audits-lack-context-including-state-mandated-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/58842\/","title":{"rendered":"In Tampa, county leaders say Florida ‘DOGE’ audits lack context, including state mandated spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CraginCragin Mosteller interviewed Steven Geller and Lee Constantine at the Florida Association of Counties 2025 legislative conference in Tampa, Florida on Nov. 19, 2025. Credit: Mitch Perry \/ Florida Phoenix<\/a><\/p>\n

TAMPA \u2014 Two longtime former state lawmakers who now serve in local government don\u2019t think much of the audits of their counties\u2019 spending conducted by Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia\u2019s office in recent months.<\/p>\n

Since being\u00a0appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a>\u00a0to the position in July, Ingoglia has held press conferences in some of the state\u2019s cities and counties, where he has aggressively called out\u00a0alleged overspending. It\u2019s been a central feature of the state\u2019s\u00a0Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, later rebranded by Ingoglia as the Florida Agency For Fiscal Oversight (FAFO).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The media events are also a way to plug a (still to be written) constitutional amendment for the 2026 ballot that likely will ask Floridians if they support reducing or possibly eliminating property taxes on homestead properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going away,\u201d Ingoglia\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0during a press conference in Seminole County in September. \u201cWe\u2019re going to continue beating this drum from now up until the time that we get actual property tax reform on the ballot in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seminole County Republican County Commissioner Lee Constantine isn\u2019t impressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole thing is a made-for-television event, and it\u2019s specifically made for television for the CFO\u2019s reelection,\u201d he said Wednesday\u00a0during the Florida Association of Counties 2025 legislative meeting. That\u2019s where he and\u00a0Broward County Democratic County Commissioner Steven Geller traded stories about their counties\u2019 FAFO audits.<\/p>\n

Geller, who served in both chambers of the Legislature for 20 years (1988-2018), criticized the calculations Ingoglia\u2019s office derived to allege that Broward has indulged in\u00a0$189 million in\u00a0<\/a>\u201cwasteful spending\u201d over the past five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCheck the numbers,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause they are fictitious. Made-up. Phony. False.\u201d<\/p>\n

Constantine, too, questioned the accuracy of some of the CFO\u2019s numbers for Seminole County. He found it telling that, when a local reporter asked Ingoglia to provide specific examples of alleged waste, \u201cHe couldn\u2019t answer specifically where he got it, referring to the suggestion his county had indulged in $48 million in excessive and wasteful spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also could not answer all this money we were overspending. Give us one example. Just one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar criticism has come from additional local governments that have received a FAFO audit. The CFO has said that he ultimately will come forward with thosse details.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office did release\u00a0a statement<\/a>\u00a0on Oct. 1 with 10 specific examples of such alleged overspending by local governments around the state, such as the city of Jacksonville spending $75,000 for a hologram of Mayor Donna Deegan greeting travelers at Jacksonville International Airport in multiple languages.<\/p>\n

(Deegan responded in\u00a0a written statement<\/a>; \u201cMayors greet travelers at airports across the country and use multimedia platforms to promote their cities as tourist destinations. This is just a new and innovative way to do that.\u201d)<\/p>\n

The Seminole audit came shortly after the five-member Seminole County Commission \u2014 all Republicans \u2014 voted 4-1 to\u00a0increase the base property tax rate by 0.5 mills<\/a>\u00a0in the face of a $35 million budget deficit, a 10% increase over the previous year.<\/p>\n

Constantine defended the increase Wednesday, saying it was the county\u2019s first in 16 years. He went on to say that the commission sent Ingoglia a letter immediately after he held his press conference but didn\u2019t receive an immediate response.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrickets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Days later, Seminole County went public in\u00a0a press release.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOn October 7, the CFO\u2019s Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight (FAFO) presentation alleged that County spending exceeds an index he created based on population growth and inflation,\u201d part of the release said. \u201cHowever, the CFO\u2019s model ignores more than $120 million of state-imposed mandates and essential services that Seminole County is legally required to fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingoglia then \u201cstarted calling some of our prominent citizens \u2026 and asked if they would endorse him for CFO. And they all said, \u2018Not until you make it right in Seminole County,\u2019\u201d Constantine continued.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the CFO sent a letter to the county commissioners, thanking them for their efforts and saying that \u201cno future action\u201d was needed on their part, other than to \u201ccontinue to look out for the taxpayers of Seminole County.\u201d<\/p>\n

Constantine is actually grateful for the whole exercise, because he says it allowed county officials to further inform their citizens about the need for the property tax increase. \u201cThe CFO did not move the needle in my county at all,\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, after our response, it was much more positive for the tax increase than it was before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advice for other counties<\/p>\n

When asked what advice they would give other counties facing similar scrutiny, Geller said it\u2019s incumbent that \u201cyou get the information out to your voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0all know this is only being done as part of the governor\u2019s tax elimination package for ad valorem taxes, and you have to start attacking those numbers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The answer is not to respond directly to the CFO\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not going to apologize,\u201d Constantine said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to change their mind. They\u2019re not going to say, \u2018Oh, we now studied the numbers and this county is doing great.\u2019\u00a0So, your real response is to your citizens, and letting them know exactly where your money is being spent, and why it\u2019s being spent, and that\u2019s something that we have to do every day, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Phoenix reached out to CFO Ingoglia\u2019s office for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CFO\u2019s message to these big government apologists is clear: Stop lying to the taxpayers and stop wasting money to the tune of tens of hundreds of millions of dollars each year,\u201d said Sydney Booker, communications director for Ingoglia.<\/p>\n

Florida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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