WINTER PARK, Fla. – Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia is slated to reveal a “legislative proposal” during a news conference in Winter Park on Thursday morning.
In a release, Ingoglia’s office announced that the conference will be held at 10:30 a.m.
Recommended Videos
However, no details have been revealed at this time about the proposal Ingoglia intends to unveil.
That said, Ingoglia — who was picked to lead the state’s FAFO initiative — announced on Wednesday his “legislative priority” to improve local government transparency, calling for lawmakers to do the following:
- Codify the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight (FAFO) in state law as a permanent, long-term initiative
- Require both state and local government employees to complete FAFO training on how to report waste, fraud and abuse
- Require each local government to submit a Financial Efficiency Report annually
- Grant government employees, contractors, subcontractors and taxpayers whisteblower protection if they contact FAFO’s office to report waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars
- Allow the Department of Financial Services to pursue financial penalties from local governments if they don’t respond to inquiries promptly, including withholding state funds
- Obligate local governments to upload all government contracts into the state’s FACTS system or something similar that is searchable and indexed
- Codify the ability of Florida’s CFO to recommend the removal of any elected official who is found to have committed financial abuse, malfeasance or misfeasance
- Require the DFS to audit local governments if they propose to raise taxes via referendum
The move comes as Ingoglia and FAFO have gone on an auditing spree across the state to uncover wasteful spending by local governments, with the aim of proving the need for property tax cuts.
“After exposing more than $1.86 billion in wasteful and excessive spending by local governments, it is clear that the taxpayers are demanding accountability and transparency from our local governments,” Ingoglia said. “Floridians are suffering because of rising property taxes and the ever-increasing cost of government.”