Florida's Chief Financial Officer has been exposing wasteful county spending across the state.
The audits are uncovering hundreds of millions in excessive government bloat.
And two county commissioners just showed exactly why these Florida DOGE investigations are so desperately needed.
Big Spenders Throw a Tantrum
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia traveled to the Florida Association of Counties legislative meeting this week.
What he witnessed was a clinic in how local government officials react when someone dares to question their spending habits.
Broward County Commissioner Steven Geller went into full meltdown mode over Ingoglia's audit showing Broward wasted $189 million over five years.
"Check the numbers," Geller said. "Because they are fictitious. Made-up. Phony. False."¹
That's a Democrat who served 20 years in the Legislature defending bloated county budgets.
Seminole County Republican Commissioner Lee Constantine wasn't much better.
He dismissed Ingoglia's work as "a made-for-television event" designed for "the CFO's reelection."¹
Constantine represents a county that just raised property taxes for the first time in 16 years despite sitting on $48 million in wasteful spending.
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/1992604113729728596?s=20
When local officials from both parties are this defensive, you know the audits hit a nerve.
The Excuses Don't Add Up
Ingoglia's Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight audits use a straightforward formula.
Take a county's 2019 spending, adjust for inflation and population growth, add multiple buffers, and compare it to today's budget.
The excess is wasteful spending that should have gone back to taxpayers as property tax relief.
Seminole County claimed the audit "ignores more than $120 million of state-imposed mandates and essential services."³
But Ingoglia's formula already accounts for essential services like police and fire departments.
Constantine complained that when a reporter asked for specific examples of waste, Ingoglia "couldn't answer specifically where he got it."¹
That's because FAFO audits look at high-level spending trends, while the separate DOGE audits drill down into specific line items.
Governor DeSantis's office already released examples from the detailed audits showing exactly where the waste is.
Jacksonville spent $75,000 on a hologram of the mayor greeting travelers at the airport.²
Gainesville pays its Director of Equity and Inclusion $189,000 while mandating divisive employee training.⁵
Orlando spent $460,000 since 2020 just to count trees.⁵
Hillsborough County burned through $572,000 for unconscious bias training.⁵
That's not essential services. That's woke nonsense funded by overtaxed homeowners.
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/1991834434958708808?s=20
Counties Get Caught Playing Politics
The timeline in Seminole County reveals what's really happening here.
The all-Republican commission voted to raise property taxes despite obvious waste in their budget.
Ingoglia showed up with an audit proving they didn't need the tax increase.
Seminole County officials fired off a letter to the CFO's office.
They got silence in response because the numbers spoke for themselves.
Then Ingoglia "started calling some of our prominent citizens" asking for endorsements for his reelection, Constantine revealed.¹
When local Republican donors said "Not until you make it right in Seminole County," suddenly the CFO sent a letter saying "no future action" was needed.¹
Constantine thinks this proves the audit was bogus.
Actually, it proves Ingoglia was being politically smart by not picking unnecessary fights with Republican counties.
The audit exposed the waste. Mission accomplished.
Constantine even admitted the whole thing backfired on county officials because it forced them to explain the tax increase to voters.
"In fact, after our response, it was much more positive for the tax increase than it was before," Constantine said.¹
Translation: They had to actually justify their spending for once, and residents were shocked to learn where their money was going.
The Real Agenda Gets Exposed
Both commissioners revealed the game plan for counties facing these audits.
Geller urged other counties to "attack those numbers" because "this is only being done as part of the Governor's tax elimination package for ad valorem taxes."¹
Constantine warned against trying to work with the CFO's office.
"They're not going to apologize," he said. "They're not going to change their mind."¹
"So your real response is to your citizens, and letting them know exactly where your money is being spent," Constantine added.¹
Notice what's missing from their advice? Actually cutting the wasteful spending.
Their strategy is to spin the numbers, attack the auditors, and hope voters don't notice counties are bleeding them dry.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1989776900672090270?s=20
These commissioners admitted they view property tax reform as a threat, not an opportunity to give relief to struggling homeowners.
DeSantis wants a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot eliminating or drastically cutting property taxes on homesteaded properties.
Florida property taxes have exploded from $37 billion in 2020 to $55 billion in 2024.⁴
Homeowners are being priced out of their own homes by escalating property tax bills.
Ingoglia's audits prove counties have plenty of room to cut wasteful spending before touching essential services.
"We're not going away," Ingoglia warned. "We're going to continue beating this drum from now up until the time that we get actual property tax reform on the ballot in 2026."²
Counties Cry Poverty While Swimming in Cash
County officials claim cutting property taxes will devastate police and fire services.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor says every dollar of the city's $380 million in property tax revenue goes to public safety.⁵
But somehow counties found money for equity directors, unconscious bias training, and counting trees.
Ingoglia's investigation uncovered $1.5 billion in excessive spending across Florida counties and cities.⁶
That's $1.5 billion that could have stayed in homeowners' pockets instead of funding woke initiatives and bloated bureaucracies.
When Ingoglia's communications director responded to the commissioners' attacks, she didn't pull punches.
"The CFO's message to these big government apologists is clear: Stop lying to the taxpayers and stop wasting money to the tune of tens of hundreds of millions of dollars each year," Sydney Booker said.¹
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/1989421479940010355?s=20
She's exactly right.
Constantine and Geller aren't defending essential services. They're defending a system where government grows unchecked while homeowners struggle with rising tax bills.
DeSantis already proposed $1,000 property tax rebates for December 2025 as immediate relief while working toward long-term reform.⁴
Counties have the money to provide real tax relief if they stop wasting it on partisan pet projects.
These commissioners just proved why every county and city budget in Florida needs this level of scrutiny.
When local officials react this defensively to basic accountability, taxpayers deserve to know what they're hiding.
¹ Mitch Perry, "County leaders get candid in discussing getting 'DOGEd' by CFO's office," Florida Phoenix, November 23, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ "Florida Property Tax Elimination: DeSantis Plan Explained for Homeowners," PropertyExemption.com, October 22, 2025.
⁵ "Governor Ron DeSantis Rejects House's Property Tax Reform Amendments," Governing, October 24, 2025.
⁶ "Florida CFO criticizes counties and cities statewide for $1.5 billion in excessive spending," WESH, November 7, 2025.
