DeSantis has been saying it for months – local governments took your property tax money and spent it on themselves.
Fort Pierce just handed him the proof.
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia walked into Fort Pierce this week with his FAFO audit team, and what they found should make every homeowner in that city furious – and every local bureaucrat in Florida nervous.
Fort Pierce's Budget Grew 60 Percent While Florida Homeowners Demand Property Tax Relief
The city's general fund budget exploded by nearly 60% since 2020.
The population grew 10%.
Fort Pierce added 4,546 residents and somehow convinced itself it needed $25 million more per year to serve them.
Ingoglia's team did the math: for every new resident who moved to Fort Pierce, bureaucrats spent an extra $5,578.
For a family of four, that's $22,312 in new government spending to cover one family moving in.
The city hired 90 new full-time employees during that period.
Fifteen of them were first responders.
Seventy-five were not protecting anyone. Not one.
Government hiring itself into a bigger version of itself – on your dime – while telling you there's no fat left to cut.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2024227865160454462?s=20
The FAFO Audit Found Fort Pierce Could Cut Your Property Tax Bill Right Now
FAFO concluded Fort Pierce could cut its millage rate by 1.93 mills without touching a single essential service.
What does that mean in real terms?
A homeowner with a $400,000 taxable value saves $772 a year. A $500,000 home saves $965. A $600,000 home saves $1,158.
That's not a rounding error.
That's a car payment.
That's groceries for a month.
That's real money that Fort Pierce city hall decided it needed more than you did.
Ingoglia was direct: "It is time to hold local government bureaucrats accountable for their reckless spending and take real steps toward making housing more affordable."
He's right.
And this isn't just Fort Pierce.
Florida Is Running Out of Excuses
FAFO has now audited 14 local governments across the state and found $1.98 billion in excessive, wasteful spending across two fiscal years.
The pattern is the same everywhere.
Broward County – $190 million.
Manatee County – $112 million, the worst percentage budget increase Ingoglia's team had seen at the time.
Palm Beach County – $344 million, the highest raw number of any single jurisdiction.
Every stop on Ingoglia's statewide tour produces the same result: local government hiring administrators while blaming inflation for your tax bill.
That's the argument DeSantis and Ingoglia have been making all along – and it's the foundation of the push to eliminate property taxes for Florida homeowners entirely, a measure the House passed 80-30 this week and sent toward the 2026 ballot.
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/2024284967480807747?s=20
Fort Pierce just proved the core premise. Seventy-five new non-emergency employees since 2020, a 60% budget increase, and a millage rate that could drop nearly 2 mills tomorrow without anyone losing police or fire protection.
Local officials have a simple choice: cut the bloat and give homeowners real relief, or wait for Ingoglia to show up with a camera and do it for them.
Sources:
- Florida Department of Financial Services, "CFO Ingoglia Announces Over $10 Million in Fort Pierce Budget as Excessive, Wasteful Spending," myfloridacfo.com, Feb. 18, 2026.
- WQCS News, "Florida CFO says Fort Pierce overspending by $10 million," wqcs.org, Feb. 19, 2026.
- Fox Business, "DeSantis details phased approach to eliminate Florida property taxes with 2026 ballot requirement," foxbusiness.com, Dec. 5, 2025.
- Executive Office of the Governor, "Governor DeSantis and CFO Ingoglia Highlight Excessive Local Government Spending," flgov.com, 2025.
