Orange County DOGE audit starting today: What we know, what leaders are saying

ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Blaise Ingoglia hosted a news conference on Tuesday morning in Orlando to discuss the Florida Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) audit into Orange County’s spending and operations.

Florida DOGE to audit Orange County

What we know:

Orange County was announced as one of the first Florida municipalities to be reviewed under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' state-led audit program targeting local governments accused of excessive taxation and spending. Newly appointed Ingoglia has been tasked with leading the audits.

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Ingoglia sent a letter to Orange County, informing leaders of the audit.

"Over the last five years, the taxpayers of Orange County have watched as your county government has increased burdens on property owners to the annual tune of $330 million dollars in additional ad valorem tax collections – an increase of over 50%," the letter read. "This has been part of a growth in annual total expenditures of over $1.6 billion over the past five years, which represents a 57% increase in spending."

Ingoglia said the audits have resulted from a variety of factors, including conversations he had with DeSantis about property taxes. Ingolgia said he does not care if a county is red or blue, because every county has seen an increase in government spending.

"We have seen a rise in property values with a corresponding rise in property taxes," Ingoglia said. "What we've seen over the last five years, especially post COVID, is a lot of increases in property tax receipts, resulting in general government growing. We do not think it is right that taxpayers get to foot the bill for government excesses."

What we don't know:

State officials have not yet detailed how jurisdictions were selected. It’s also unclear what penalties, if any, municipalities may face if excessive spending is found. No preliminary audit findings have been released.

What's next:

The DOGE teams will next take their findings back to Tallahassee to meet with auditors. 

Ingoglia said a report of DOGE's findings will be released within 60 days. 

'Political theater disguised as fiscal concern'

What they're saying:

"These are now legally mandated audits, and we expect all local governments to cooperate," DeSantis said during a recent news conference. "Our teams will review data systems, physical sites and staffing to identify any excessive spending patterns and bring transparency to taxpayers."

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the county will comply fully with the audit.

Orange County District 5 Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad hosted a news conference titled "Defending Your Dollars" on Tuesday morning ahead of Ingoglia's news conference. Semrad said state mandates are limiting local government's ability to serve residents and called it an "overreach."

"We support financial oversight, we support accountability, we support transparency, but what we don't support is political theater disguised as fiscal concern," she said. "The state claims we've added more than $300 million in spending, but what the state fails to recognize is that in the last five years we have nearly 81,000 people that have moved to Orange County. That growth requires investment."

"The state wants us to create some distractions, so that you don't notice how corrupt they are," Orange County District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson said at the news conference. "They are bowing hundreds of millions of dollars to do some kind of performance for the nation of how loyal they are to the administration in Washington, D,C., and this is on your dollars. This is going to pull your resources from our county."

DeSantis announces DOGE audits for Florida city, county governments

Big picture view:

Last month, DeSantis announced on-site audits of city and county governments starting July 31, targeting areas with complaints from taxpayers of wasteful spending. DeSantis is using teams from the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to "ensure transparency and accountability in government."

DeSantis said the teams will closely analyze local government spending, with team members from the Department of Financial Services, Department of Revenue, Department of Transportation, Department of Commerce and Department of Education. He said the audits will examine county data systems, facilities, and staff records dating back to 2019.

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DeSantis emphasized the audits are now required by law and local governments must cooperate.

Broward County and the City of Gainesville were the first two Florida municipalities targeted, and others followed, including the City of St. Petersburg, Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Orange County, Jacksonville, Manatee County and the City of Orlando.

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