Orange County spent $750 million in six years and Jerry Demings still can't fix a pothole.
Now Florida's CFO just toured the state with a calculator – and local governments don't want you to see what he found.
Blaise Ingoglia just told every county mayor in Florida to stop crying poor and explain why some budgets nearly doubled while your roads turned to gravel.
The Spending Audit Local Officials Prayed Would Never Happen
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings' administration "wasted $300 million just last year alone" and $750 million over a six-year period, Ingoglia said.
"I'm driving across potholes," Ingoglia said. "That's money that could have fixed that stuff."
The math is brutal.
Florida counties should have seen budget growth of roughly 36% to 38% over the past six years – accounting for cumulative inflation of about 26% plus population growth of around 10%.
Orange County's budget grew by $1.7 billion since 2020 without raising its tax rate.
That's not underfunding.
That's a feeding frenzy on your rising property values.
https://twitter.com/CryptidPolitics/status/2062129554458652862?s=20
Hillsborough County's general fund budget ballooned 56.6% – nearly $860 million – between fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2024-2025, while population grew just 123,823 residents.
That works out to $6,944 in new spending per new resident.
Or nearly $28,000 for a family of four.
Fort Pierce – a small city – saw its general fund budget jump nearly 60% over six years while the population grew by only 4,500 people.
"A lot of it, unfortunately, is not going to fire and police," Ingoglia said. "It's going to the bureaucracy."
The Scare Tactics Playbook Is Already Running
The Florida Legislature just passed a constitutional amendment putting a phased-in "super" homestead exemption on the November ballot – $150,000 in the first year, rising to $250,000 in the second.
If voters approve it, up to 60% of Florida primary homeowners would owe zero in non-school property taxes.
Local governments immediately reached for their favorite weapon: fear.
Police will be cut. Fire stations will close. Children will suffer.
Ingoglia isn't having it.
"The first thing that every local government should do if the proposal passes is to fund the police, firefighters, and other first responders," he said. "When I hear the misinformation and the talking points coming out from the big government apologists that say that they have to cut fire and they have to cut police, what they are saying is that that's the last thing that they're thinking about in the hierarchy of how they build their budgets."
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2062202143755436457?s=20
He's right.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor claimed last year that every dollar of Tampa's $380 million in property tax revenue goes to police and fire – but the city spent more than $455 million on public safety.
If every property tax dollar was already going to cops and firefighters, why is Tampa spending $75 million more than it collects in property taxes?
Why This Is Bigger Than One Tax Fight
Local governments found a loophole – and they've been running it for six years.
Florida voters locked down homestead assessments back in 1992 with the Save Our Homes amendment, capping annual increases at 3%.
But the post-COVID real estate explosion handed local governments a different ATM: commercial properties, rentals, and non-homestead land with a 10% annual assessment cap instead of 3%.
They took every penny.
"We're talking about money that the government would have never had if it was not for a rise in property values," Ingoglia said. "Now these local governments are going to say that they need all of that money."
The new amendment cuts the non-homestead assessment cap from 10% down to 5%, blocking the obvious workaround – local governments can't simply hammer landlords and businesses to make up the difference.
The November ballot question is simple: Do Florida homeowners get their money back, or do the bureaucrats keep the windfall?
Ingoglia is betting voters already know the answer.
"I actually think we're at the point where local governments are actually taking advantage of their citizens," he said, "and they're doing that through the property tax base."
They've had six years of free money.
November is the reckoning.
Sources:
- Michelle Vecerina, "CFO Ingoglia slams local governments for running 'roughshod' over Florida taxpayers," Florida's Voice, June 3, 2026.
- Mitch Perry, "CFO tells Florida voters don't believe 'big government apologists' hype on property tax," Florida Phoenix, June 3, 2026.
- "Florida Legislature OKs tweaked property tax amendment for November ballot," ClickOrlando/WKMG, June 2, 2026.
- "Florida passes $250,000 homestead exemption that could erase property taxes," Fox Business, June 3, 2026.
- "Florida CFO Alleges Hillsborough County Overspending, Calls For Cuts And Tax Relief," AOL/local reporting, 2026.
- "Florida CFO Ingoglia accuses Fort Pierce of misspending $10.5 million," TCPalm/AOL, 2026.
- "Florida CFO says local governments are 'bloated' as property tax cut heads to voters," CBS12, June 2026.
