Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia was in Seminole County on Tuesday to release the results of a county government audit that found millions in overspending.
The Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight, or FAFO, audit claims that the county government has overspent by about $48 million.
Ingoglia said that means for every person who moved to Seminole County, the budget increased by $5,402. For every family of four who moved there, the budget increased by $21,608.
"So by our calculations, based upon that $48 million number, Seminole County government could have easily cut the millage rate by 0.81 mills and still delivered property tax relief and still paid for essential services," Ingoglia posited.
Instead, he said the county increased the utilities tax by 10%, gas taxes by 5 cents a gallon, and approved the first property tax increase in 16 years.
"Here in Seminole County, the County Commission didn't cut your taxes. They actually raised your taxes. They increased the millage rate from 4.8751 to 5.3751 in a time when people are hurting and want property tax reform, they went out and voted to raise your taxes," Ingoglia said.
A mill is a property tax of one dollar per $1,000 of taxable value.
So far, Ingoglia said his team has audited six county governments.
Generally, those audits are part efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis' Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In this case, Ingoglia said the Seminole County audit was a separate FAFO audit by his office.
In a statement, Seminole County said the higher budget is due to a growing population and rising inflation.
"The board's decision to approve a millage increase for FY 2025–26 was not made lightly. It was a necessary step to preserve essential public safety services that residents rely on every day, including the sheriff's office, fire rescue, emergency management, animal services, and emergency 911," read the statement.
The county says it "remains committed to fiscal discipline, transparency and delivering exceptional value to our taxpayers."
Property tax push
Experts say one of the main incentives of Florida FAFO and DOGE isn't just to expose government overspending at the local level, but also to illustrate the need for and feasibility of property tax reform.
The logic goes that, if county governments are overtaxing residents, they could survive without property taxes.
In a survey conducted by the James Madison Institute, a conservative Florida think tank, over 60% of Floridians support some kind of property tax relief and say that affordable housing is a major concern for them.
Ingoglia's said he supports property tax reform and has plans to continue audits of local governments, including school districts.
"The school budgets are wasting money also. And I will say this blanketly, every level of government, whether it is state, federal, local, county commissions, local city councils, school boards, enterprise funds, every single level of government is wasting money and spending taxpayer dollars and fees obnoxiously," Ingoglia said.
Governments are pushing back against this sentiment, saying that the services local governments provide residents using their tax dollars are crucial, and that they're not overspending.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, for example, called Ingoglia's claims against his government, "nonsensical," and said, "property tax goes to fund the services that are provided to you at your home, whether it is police, fire response, cleaning streets, sweeping streets, garbage pickup, those types of things."
But Ingoglia said he wants to write these kinds of audits permanently into the office of the Chief Financial Officer of Florida.
"So we are trying to institutionalize identifying waste, fraud and abuse at the local government level and then letting the taxpayers know what it's being spent on, because we believe that is what the taxpayers deserve," Ingoglia said.
DOGE targets Palm Beach County’s accessible transit
Meantime, Florida DOGE has accused Palm Beach County of wasteful local spending, pointing to its transit services for people with disabilities.
Ingoglia said that the county’s para-transit costs have tripled in two years calling it wasteful. County leaders disagree.
Chief Deputy County Administrator Todd Bonlarron said those costs rose from about $53 million in 2023 to $70 million this year; they did not triple. He said the rise was driven by higher labor and insurance costs.
Para-transit services remain vital, providing low-cost curb-to-curb rides for people with disabilities and seniors who can’t travel without assistance.
— Wilkine Brutus, WLRN
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