In a decisive move to rein in what he called reckless and unaccountable local government spending, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reportedly announced Tuesday a sweeping new state audit initiative aimed at counties, cities, and law enforcement agencies that have resisted efforts to increase transparency and cut waste.
Standing alongside newly sworn-in Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, DeSantis declared that the state will begin auditing municipalities that have refused to cooperate with Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was launched in February to root out bureaucratic waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars.
Broward County and Gainesville will be the first under review, with auditors arriving July 31.
“We’re going to look at the places where we’ve gotten the most complaints and the least compliance,” DeSantis said. “In Broward County, the numbers just don’t add up.”
According to the governor, property taxes in Broward have soared by $450 million since 2020—an increase of nearly 50%—despite the population growing less than 5% during the same period.
“They are spending money like it belongs to someone else,” DeSantis said, pointing to questionable expenses such as an $800,000 float in the Rose Bowl Parade and a county administrator’s nearly $500,000 annual salary.
CFO Ingoglia, a longtime DeSantis ally and former state representative, warned that noncompliant localities could face serious consequences, including steep fines and the withholding of state funds. “We’ll be using teams on the ground and artificial intelligence to identify waste,” he said. “If a city refuses to provide information, we’re talking about $1,000 per day per item. That could add up to $100,000 per day.”
DeSantis has framed the audit initiative as part of a broader fiscal reform effort, which includes pushing for a 2026 constitutional amendment to lower property taxes statewide. “We need to deliver relief to Florida families who are being squeezed by local governments that treat their budgets like ATMs,” he said.
Critics, however, cried foul over the timing and targets of the audits. Broward County Commissioner Steve Geller, a Democrat, suggested political motivations were at play.
“I find it interesting that the two counties chosen first are two bright blue counties,” he said, though he acknowledged the county would comply with the law.
Still, Geller defended Broward’s spending, blaming new state mandates for rising costs, including unfunded requirements to clear homeless encampments. “They passed the laws and gave us no money to implement them,” he said.
DeSantis, unshaken, said more counties could soon be under the microscope, including Miami-Dade. “They’ve been better than some, but not good enough,” he said. “You’ll probably see an announcement there in the next couple weeks.”
For Ingoglia, his priorities as CFO will include policing not only government bloat but also questionable practices in Florida’s insurance sector. “I’m not going to let anyone game the system,” he said. “Not trial attorneys, not insurers, nobody.”
In an era of runaway government spending and opaque local budgets, DeSantis and Ingoglia appear intent on delivering something rare: accountability.
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