Florida's CFO stood in Bradenton and called Manatee County the single worst wasteful spender of every government audited in the entire state.
That was nine months ago.
And Manatee County had been hoping the story would go away, but DeSantis just fired off a warning shot about wasteful spending.
DeSantis Drops the Word That Changes Everything
"Questionable."
That's what Governor DeSantis called Manatee County's capital projects at a press conference last week.
Not illegal. Not fraudulent. Questionable.
When a governor running a statewide DOGE crackdown on wasteful spending uses that word at a press conference about your county, you are not getting a compliment.
You are getting a warning shot.
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The DOGE team found the county approved major capital projects with limited planning, built on assumptions the state won't accept – and added enough new government employees to fill a small office building.
“The DOGE team found Manatee County carried out capital projects with limited planning, and based on questionable assumptions,” DeSantis said. “The number of staff funded grew pretty dramatically, 25% increase.”
The Numbers That Started This Fight
In October 2025, CFO Blaise Ingoglia stood at a podium in Bradenton and delivered a number that should have ended careers.
$112 million.
That's how much Manatee County overspent in a single fiscal year after accounting for population growth and inflation – money that belonged in taxpayers' pockets, not government bank accounts.
“Blaise (Ingoglia) found that Manatee County’s overall budget had grown faster than the rate of inflation and population growth, even despite the millage cuts,” DeSantis said
The county's general fund had ballooned by $269 million over five years, a 69% jump – the largest budget surge Ingoglia's team had seen in any government it audited across Florida.
"I'm sorry to say that Manatee County blew right past that number," Ingoglia said. "Blew right past it."
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Over those same five years, the county added 472 full-time employees – librarians, administrators, clerks – even as home values rose and funneled more property tax revenue into government accounts than residents ever approved sending.
"They took the extra money," Ingoglia told the crowd. "They spent it. It should have been given back to you."
“On a percentage basis, Manatee County is probably the worst that we’ve come across so far in the amount of the percentage over and above inflation and population,” Ingoglia added.
This Is Bigger Than Manatee County
Florida's DOGE audits have now documented over $1.1 billion in excessive and wasteful local government spending in a single fiscal year.
Hillsborough County got hit for nearly $279 million.
Broward, Orange, and Pinellas are all under the microscope.
The pattern is the same everywhere: rising home values pumped massive new property tax revenue into government accounts, and local officials spent every dollar instead of returning it to the people who earned it.
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DeSantis credited Manatee for some things it got right – zero-base budgeting, millage reductions, keeping general fund growth below property tax revenue increases.
But the capital projects with "limited planning" and the 25% staff surge are where his patience runs out.
On July 28, Manatee County commissioners will hear the full DOGE findings alongside the county's own Government Efficiency Liaison Committee report.
That meeting is the moment of truth.
Either Manatee County shows it heard the message – or it proves Ingoglia right.
Your tax dollars are the ones on the table.
Sources:
- Carter Weinhofer, "DeSantis Criticizes Manatee County Spending in DOGE Audit Update," Bradenton Herald, July 7, 2026.
- Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia, "CFO Ingoglia Announces Over $112 Million in Excessive, Wasteful Spending in Manatee County Budget," Florida Department of Financial Services, October 16, 2025.
- Drew Dixon, "Blaise Ingoglia Rips Into Manatee County Government Spending as 'The Worst,'" Florida Politics, October 16, 2025.
- WUSF, "Florida DOGE Finds Manatee County Is 'Overspending' as State Pushes to Limit Property Taxes," October 17, 2025.
- WUSF, "Florida DOGE Audit Claims Hillsborough Overspent Nearly $279 Million," September 25, 2025.
