WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. – While the city of Winter Springs has been pushing back against accusations about mismanagement and misspending of tax dollars, the state Auditor General’s Office has sent another review of its findings.
News 6 has been covering the years-long back and forth in Winter Springs where the mayor has defended those claims, but some residents have remained frustrated with what they view as a lack of progress.
The latest review from the state, which is a follow-up to an operational audit report, notes that out of the eight key issues they’ve identified, the city has:
Corrected 2 findings
Partially corrected 5 findings
Not corrected 1 finding
“They found no malfeasance, no misappropriated funds, nothing questionable,” said Mayor Kevin McCann. “Just simply told us things that we already knew or made some best practice suggestions.”
Mayor Kevin McCann tells News 6 that the Auditor General’s Office analysis included improvements the city has made in all but one category - the wastewater treatment system.
The city continues to rack up thousands of dollars in fines and penalties for wastewater treatment violations. The latest review specifically points out warning letters sent by the FDEP and a $51,310 fine paid by the city in April.
“The city was told in 2009 that they needed to replace those plants, and nothing was done until 2019, when massive spills started to occur,” the mayor explained. “When I came into office in 2021, we made it the city’s priority, and we are well on our way.”
In May, the city selected a new water utility contractor who took over operations last month. The previous contractor who oversaw operations at the plants was terminated after the city found multiple violations and errors were made.
Mayor McCann said the city is also actively working on replacing the aging wastewater systems and calls a $140 million project underway the “largest infrastructure project the city has ever taken on.”
“We have made major steps toward the financing, the construction, the design,” said McCann. “It’s lining up some financing and taking care of some of the details.”
The latest findings from the Auditor General’s Office also ask for the city to continue to address concerns about how the infrastructure sales tax dollars are used. The state examined records of expenditures and found that $103,000 related to hurricane recovery was “not specifically allowable pursuant to state law.”
The mayor defended the city against any claim of misspending.
“There was absolutely nothing illegal,” said McCann. “These are best practices that they’re recommending. There’s no misappropriation or misspending of funds.”
Jesse Phillips, co-founder of the Winter Springs Community Association, has been vocal about the city’s operations over the last several years.
“This is the second time they’ve been flagged, you know, for that misuse of penny sales tax, and it just keeps occurring,” said Phillips.
Phillips called the latest findings from the Auditor General’s Office “disappointing.”
“And I think a real wake-up call, because we as residents had been very hopeful that progress would be made,” said Phillips. “I hope it’s a wake-up call for city hall that these issues are still not being addressed.”
Phillips said the improvements that have been made so far are “cosmetic changes” since Seminole County’s inspector general released a final version of an audit that investigated Winter Springs in 2023, and the State Auditor General first released their findings.
“They did some superficial things, adopted some policies which were good,” said Phillips. “But the systemic issues are still there. The lack of transparency, the issues with the wastewater, the toxic culture in city hall, the lack of transparency in the way we’re financially being run. These are all systemic issues that we’ve been highlighting for many, many years.”
Mayor McCann said the city of Winter Springs has “much to be proud of” and called the audit politically motivated.
“This audit was brought on by developers who were not getting what they wanted,” said McCann. “This latest news about the legislature stepping in and in an unprecedented move and changing our city charter — unprecedented — brought on by the exact same developers and special interest, the former vice chair of the Republican Party for the state of Florida. This is outside influences, or outside influencers, making changes to our city for political gain. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Phillips said the auditors’ findings are “not a matter of politics but of compliance with state law.”
“This is not political at its root. The auditors are coming in with a very simple objective,” Phillips said.
Phillips said residents will keep demanding change until the city admits things need to be better.
Mayor McCann said Winter Springs is committed to moving forward.
“Absolutely open to an outside set of eyes coming in and pointing out some best practices,” said McCann. “We’ve improved, we will continue to improve, and will always be open to listening to reasonable, best practices.”
You can read a full statement from the City of Winter Springs, along with the follow-up from the Auditor General’s Office that acknowledges the corrections that have been made below:
Recently, the Mayor and Commission of the City of Winter Springs received a draft of the State of Florida Auditor General’s Follow-up operational audit of the City of Winter Springs (report No. 2024-036), dated October 2023.
The follow-up audit aimed to evaluate City management’s effectiveness in implementing internal controls, focusing on preventing fraud and ensuring compliance with laws and guidelines.
The Auditor General presented eight separate findings to the City, of which seven have been fully or partially addressed. The remaining findings about fines and penalties related to wastewater treatment violations are currently listed as unresolved. This item is being addressed as the City is designing and replacing our aging facilities, with construction expected to begin in 2026.
The City has 30 days to review the findings and submit our responses to the Office of the Auditor General.
Rest assured, the City of Winter Springs is committed to serving our residents and providing the best possible service now and into the future.