Hillsborough County's medical care program for the poor and school zone speeding cameras could be on the chopping block.
The programs are two of many that could be cut as part of an estimated $678 million the county's DOGE - or Department of Government Efficiency - liaison committee says could be trimmed. That would be about 6% of the county's $12 billion budget.
The biggest cut would be $297 million from the indigent health care program. Committee chair Jake Hoffman said those people could be helped by the Affordable Care Act.
County officials said the report is now under review and they would not be available for comment. But Hoffman recently told Spectrum Bay News 9 the report is now in county commissioners' hands.
"And to be honest, if nothing comes of this report, then I'll be disappointed that we spent so much time looking into all of this stuff and nothing is actually done with it," he said.
The committee is a volunteer advisory body made up of five members appointed by the county commission. Hoffman is the co-founder of Invasion Digital Media and also president of Hillsborough County Young Republicans.
ALSO READ: Hillsborough County DOGE committee addresses state concerns about spending
Last year, a state DOGE committee helmed by Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia claimed the county overspent almost $280 million over the past five years. County officials replied that more than eight out of every 10 dollars collected from property taxes goes to public safety and infrastructure.
Hoffman said his committee did a more thorough investigation than the state conducted.
"They have not done what we've done, which is go line by line by line, and then start to question some of the things that have been possibly long-standing contracts in Hillsborough County," he said.
Here are the committee's top recommendations for cutting costs:
1. Adopt a documented, market-benchmarked compensation strategy and clarify whether the county's current annual increase structure is described as merit-based or as a performance-gated general increase.
2. Develop a needs-based workforce strategy and conduct a functional staffing analysis of support services, including Human Resources.
3. Modernize the fixed vehicle allowance policy to better align payments with documented business use.
4. Discontinue or substantially restructure the Film Commission subsidy program considering governance, transparency, and measurable-impact concerns.
5. Phase out the Indigent Health Care Program in favor of transitioning eligible participants to federal coverage and reassess the dedicated 0.5% sales tax that funds the program.
6. Reclaim or redefine contracts categorized as "Miscellaneous," particularly those with 0% utilization, and discontinue the use of "Miscellaneous" as a procurement category.
ALSO READ: State CFO Ingoglia says Florida's DOGE is ‘not going away’
7. Tighten eligibility, performance metrics, and political-activity restrictions for non-profit funding, and limit grants to organizations with substantial self-funding capacity.
8. Discontinue the current school-zone speed camera program or, at a minimum, implement significant reforms to strengthen oversight, procurement, transparency, accountability, and legal compliance.
9. Eliminate Community Liaison positions and complete the ongoing review of standing committees and councils.
10. Restructure executive oversight of community engagement and equity functions and conduct a broader review of recent position reclassifications.
11. Implement centralized fleet demand validation, phased purchasing, and utilization tracking.
12. Centralize software-license procurement and continue the IT-led review of recurring subscriptions.
13. Place non-competitive bids and similar contracts out for competitive bidding (RFP), where the underlying services are routinely available in the marketplace and strengthen controls over non-competitive awards through enhanced oversight, documentation, and transparency.
Hoffman said the DOGE liaison committee has not yet been invited to present its findings to Hillsborough commissioners. It's unknown if commissioners will take action on them.
