‘Waste, fraud and abuse:’ DeSantis slams these Florida cities over ‘excessive’ spending

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – During a news conference on Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state CFO Blaise Ingoglia slammed certain parts of the state over what they dubbed “excessive” spending.

The discussion comes after the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) visited a dozen areas across the state to investigate possible “waste, fraud and abuse.”

“Florida DOGE teams have been investigating cities and counties where taxpayers have raised concerns about wasteful spending,” DeSantis said. “These audits have uncovered many irresponsible uses of taxpayer funds. It’s unconscionable for local governments to raise taxes on Floridians in order to subsidize wasteful spending.”

A few of the examples of “wasteful spending” highlighted on Wednesday include the following:

• City of Orlando
  • Spent $460,000 since 2020 to count trees as part of the city’s “tree inventory”
  • Spent $150,000 over three years to help undocumented immigrants evade deportation
  • Spent money on a poet laureate program
  • Paying nearly $70,000 for hot yoga classes for employees
  • Spent money on employee training regarding microaggressions and advanced energy equity
• Orange County
  • Spent $223,000 for LGBT youth services that promote gender ideology to youth populations
  • Paid $240,000 to a left-wing urban planning firm that carries out its activities from a “race, social and health equity perspective”
• City of Jacksonville
  • Paid $75,000 for a “hologram” of Mayor Donna Deegan to greet travelers at Jacksonville International Airport in multiple languages
  • $7.5 million for a 1-mile sidewalk project that was nearly eight times the average FDOT estimate
  • $1.9 million in grants to DEI-focused arts groups
• City of Pensacola
  • Pays $150,000 annually to a management company that brings drag shows to the city’s Seanger Theater
  • Paid $300,000 for an equity-focused strategic plan and residential “equity survey”
  • Spent nearly $600,000 for a large neon “Welcome to Pensacola” sign
• City of Gainesville
  • Pays a $189,000 salary to the city’s director of equity and inclusion
  • Prioritized divisive employee indoctrination on the subjects of race and identity over essential activities to serve residents
• City of St. Petersburg
  • Paid $258,000 to support Pride events, including funds from the city’s utility and EMS funds
  • Spent $307,000 on a climate action plan to promote Green New Deal initiatives
• Alachua County
  • Paid $31,000 to Planned Parenthood for “Teen Time,” designed for children as young as 13 years old
• Hillsborough County
  • Spent $572,000 to train county employees about so-called “unconscious bias”
  • Provides $950,000 for county employee vehicle allowances with very little transparency
  • Provided millions in film subsidies for films
• Pinellas County
  • Spends $75,000 annually to sponsor an annual Pride festival
• Broward County
  • Spent $890,000 since FY2020 on DEI training, including training that pushes gender fluidity and transgender ideology
  • Spent $175,000 on creating virtual art in the Metaverse
  • Spent $44,000 to support a UN treaty promoting gender equity that seeks to compel Americans to accept gender quotas and unequal treatment in service of supposedly equal “outcomes”

Earlier this year, Ingoglia revealed that the audits sought to uncover wasteful spending to prove to Florida residents that property taxes are unnecessarily high.

The plan, Ingoglia added, is to “arm people with the information” in preparation for a property tax amendment he expects to go on the ballot in 2026.

“Then, they can make decisions based upon whether they want to re-elect local officials or — probably just as equally important, if not more important — will they vote for a constitutional amendment in November ‘26,″ he said.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH PROPERTY TAXES?

Property taxes were a big issue for DeSantis during the Legislative session earlier this year, with the governor declaring that he’d be looking into options to axe them.

“We can’t control private markets, but we can control how much they can tax you,” DeSantis said. “So we’re going to be working over the next year and a half to see what we can present for voters to be able to vote in the next election for some major, major property tax limitations and reliefs.”

Proponents of property taxes often assert that they’re a vital part of collecting revenue for public programs, such as schools and police stations. Without the tax revenue, these programs could be majorly stymied.

But on the flip side, property taxes are typically deeply unpopular — the second-most unpopular behind federal income taxes, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Opponents argue that property taxes unfairly target homeowners, who have already taken on all of the other burdens that come with homeownership. Worse yet, tax incidence means that the cost of these taxes could even end up falling downstream to lower-income renters who make use of these properties.

COULD FLORIDA ACTUALLY ELIMINATE PROPERTY TAXES?

The short answer is: not easily.

Local governments are the ones that levy property taxes — not the state — so it would require a constitutional amendment to eradicate them statewide.

DeSantis addressed this fact himself back in February, clarifying that he would indeed support their elimination.

But before voters can even decide on such a motion, an amendment would first have to be proposed via one of the following methods:

• A joint resolution of the Florida Legislature
• A citizens’ initiative
• A proposal from the Constitution Revision Commission
• A proposal from the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission

So far, there have been no citizens’ initiatives regarding the elimination of property taxes, and while lawmakers crafted a handful of bills aimed at the topic, none of them managed to pass this year.

But even if they did, the amendment would still likely not go before voters until 2026 at the earliest.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE AUDITS?

Several local governments in Florida have already been audited by the state via its DOGE (“Department of Government Efficiency”) Task Force.

Some of the factors that the task force has been looking for are as follows:

• Excessive government contracts
• Compensation of government workers
• Property management
• Utilities
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies
• “Green New Deal” programs supported by the local government
• Grants and other spending on NGOs

“We’re trying to see how much the average person in the county makes as compared to the average local government,” Ingoglia continued. “I think that’s an important metric. We’re trying to see how much money they have socked away in reserve funds.”

Within Central Florida, Ingoglia said he’d managed to uncover over $190 million in excess spending out of Orange County, though local officials have disputed that figure.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has since responded to the governor and CFO’s remarks in Jacksonville.

“Orange County takes its responsibility to taxpayers seriously, and we stand by the investments we make in our community,” Demings said in a statement. “Our budget priorities are guided by the needs of residents and the recommendations of our citizen-led task forces. Supporting youth services and addressing issues of equity are about strengthening families and ensuring all residents have the opportunity to thrive.”

The city of Orlando has also provided News 6 with a statement from Mayor Buddy Dyer, responding to DeSantis and Ingoglia:

Here is a statement from Mayor Dyer:

I am proud of Orlando’s fiscal prudence; we have kept our millage rate unchanged for more than a decade and delivered a balanced budget each year, while continuing to meet the needs of our growing community and the 75 million visitors who come to our city annually.

We are committed to listening to our residents and making investments that are responsive to their needs and priorities. Last year, our city invested more in police and fire services ($406 million) than we generated in property taxes ($360 million).

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Tree Inventory

The City of Orlando inventories our city’s trees to properly evaluate, maintain, and treat trees for damage and disease. This program is not funded with property taxes. The City received three grants totaling $70,500 over the last 5 years and remaining funds for the program are from the City’s Street Tree Fund. The Street Tree Fund is a fee funded through tree removal permits and mitigation fees paid by developers when new construction occurs. The Grants are through the Florida Urban and Community Forestry Grants (https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/For-Communities/Grants/Florida-Urban-and-Community-Forestry-G…)

Immigration Services

As part of the Community Investment Program, the City’s Office of Community Affairs grants funds to non-profit organizations. One of the organizations funded is the Orlando Center for Justice. According to their grant application, Orlando Center for Justice aims to provide direct legal representation as well as educational Q & A style workshops to help people understand their rights and resources as not all legal concerns require representation and a free Q&A talk to address how and when to report to the court or ICE, paying taxes, or applying for a license for example, can often save people from legal entanglements down the road.

Yoga Classes

Yoga is part of the City’s Employee Wellness Program. These programs have the benefit of creating a healthier workforce that leads to lower healthcare costs, lower risk costs associated with workplace accidents that ultimately result in a reduced cost to the taxpayer and decreases use of leave for health reasons.

Poet Laureate

In 2018, the City of Orlando launched a search for the city’s first poet Laureate. Modeled after the State of Florida’s poet Laureate, this person serves as the City’s official storyteller and presents original poems at City events and youth activities to inspire emerging generations of literary artists and poets.

Our most recent poet laureate, Shawn Welcome, was very popular and many organizations sought to have him as part of their events. Welcome received a stipend for serving as the poet laureate of ($4000) a year. The ($4,000) annual stipend is intended to recognize the poet’s achievements and cover expenses not reimbursed by other organizations.

The first poet started at $3,000 (2018). Second poet laureate got $4,000 (2021). The new poet is getting $6,000.

Andrea Otero, public information manager, city of Orlando