Florida taxpayers have been getting fleeced for years by career politicians.
They thought the local government was looking out for their interests.
But Florida CFO just revealed one secret about Orlando that will have taxpayers fuming.
Florida CFO launches statewide accountability tour targeting wasteful spending
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia isn't holding back as he tours Florida exposing how local governments are treating taxpayers like personal piggy banks.
Ingoglia rolled into Orlando on Friday with some eye-opening numbers that every Florida taxpayer needs to hear.
His office uncovered roughly $1.5 billion in excessive spending across nine Florida counties – and that's just scratching the surface.
Orlando's piece of that wasteful spending pie? A cool $22.3 million.¹
"Government spending is rising not because of essential services, it is rising because of excessive and wasteful spending by career politicians and bureaucrats who think you are an endless ATM," Ingoglia stated.¹
The CFO made it crystal clear this isn't about party politics – it's about protecting taxpayers from government overreach regardless of the letter next to a politician's name.
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/1986784332522873284?s=20
Orlando added 245 administrative positions while claiming budget restraint
Here's where Orlando's spending story gets interesting.
While $22.3 million might sound like chump change compared to the nearly $200 million Jacksonville wasted, Ingoglia found something troubling in Orlando's hiring practices.
The city added 245 administrative positions over the past five years.¹
That's 245 more bureaucrats shuffling papers and collecting paychecks funded by hardworking Floridians.
Ingoglia broke down the numbers in terms every taxpayer can understand.
For every person who moves to Orlando, the budget grows by nearly $8,000. A family of four moving to Orlando triggers a nearly $29,000 budget increase.¹
Those aren't numbers tied to actual service delivery – they're proof of government expansion for the sake of expansion.
Despite all this growth, Ingoglia said Orlando could slash its millage rate by 0.40 mills and still provide every essential service residents expect.¹
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/1985382775608717373?s=20
The other counties on Ingoglia's accountability tour faced even harsher criticism. Miami-Dade County topped the wasteful spending charts at $302 million, followed by Hillsborough County at $278 million.¹
Career politicians treat inflation indexing as spending floor instead of ceiling
Ingoglia delivered a message that should resonate with every conservative who's watched their property taxes climb year after year.
Local governments across Florida are using population growth and inflation as excuses to expand budgets far beyond what's necessary to maintain services.
"Indexing these budgets for inflation and population should be the ceiling, not the goal," Ingoglia explained.¹
That's the game these career politicians play.
They claim they need more money to serve more people, but then they pocket the difference by hiring armies of administrators who produce nothing taxpayers can see or touch.
Orlando might be less guilty than Miami-Dade or Hillsborough, but that's like saying someone only robbed you a little bit instead of a lot.
The CFO's findings reveal a pattern of government expansion that has nothing to do with serving citizens better and everything to do with protecting bureaucratic empires.
These aren't cumulative totals over multiple years – this is $1.5 billion in wasteful spending in a single year across just nine counties.¹
Imagine what Florida's CFO would find if he audited every county and municipality in the state.
The beauty of Ingoglia's approach is that he's putting hard numbers on what conservatives have known for decades – government always grows unless taxpayers force it to shrink.
"It does not matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican or an NPA, if you are a taxpayer, I'm going to be looking out for you and your tax dollars regardless of party affiliation," Ingoglia said.¹
Florida voters handed Republicans massive majorities because they're sick of watching their hard-earned money disappear into bureaucratic black holes.
Ingoglia's accountability tour is exactly the kind of aggressive fiscal oversight taxpayers deserve from their elected officials.
¹ Anita Padilla, "Florida CFO flags wasteful spending in Orlando and across the state," Florida News, November 7, 2025.
