Florida CFO claims $1.5B in local government ‘waste,’ but says Orlando spending among lowest

Florida CFO claims $1.5B in local government ‘waste'

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced that his office has uncovered roughly $1.5 billion in what he calls “wasteful spending” across ten municipalities audited so far.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced that his office has uncovered roughly $1.5 billion in what he calls "wasteful spending" across ten municipalities audited so far.

According to Ingoglia, Orlando ranked among the best-performing cities, with only 4% of its budget — about $22 million — identified as potential waste, compared to $190 million in Orange County. 

What we know:

Ingoglia’s audits are part of a broader initiative by the Florida Department of Financial Services to increase transparency and identify what the CFO calls excessive local government spending.

The announcement in Orlando followed similar visits to other Florida cities as part of a public campaign to push for budget reductions and potential property tax relief.

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His office defines waste by comparing 2019 budgets, adjusted for current inflation and population growth, to current spending levels; any excess beyond that figure is labeled as wasteful.

What we don't know:

The CFO’s audit data has not been publicly released in detail, leaving questions about how each spending category was classified as waste and how consistent the methodology is across cities. It’s also unclear how local governments might respond to the findings or whether they will adopt Ingoglia’s suggested budget cuts. 

What they're saying:

The CFO’s findings have sparked debate over how government spending should be measured and what qualifies as waste. 

"This is still wasteful and excessive spending," Ingoglia said during the Orlando news conference. "This is still money that could be very easily, according to our calculations, be cut out of the budget and offer property tax relief. But this is the lowest amount that we have seen so far."

Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia praises Orlando spending | Full speech

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia held a news conference in Orlando, where he praised Orlando for how it's government is spending money. He did question $22.3 million in spending and said there were areas still to cut finding. He compared $22M compared to Jackson, Orange County, and Miami-Dade governments. He then challenged those government leaders to look at their budgets. alleged wasteful spending in Orange County and Orlando. According to his numbers, Ingoglia questioned $22 million ins pending by Orlando and

Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani, who attended the event, pushed back on Ingoglia’s methods, saying the CFO’s formula oversimplifies complex budgeting realities. 

"I think you have to look at this from a scalpel, not a sledgehammer," she told FOX 35. "And the demonization of local governments — it’s just not constructive."

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Ingoglia also emphasized plans to expand the initiative: "We are looking at reorganizing our offices to hire more auditors, to hire more local government experts, to hire more CPAs so we can get in the weeds of some of these numbers and show some of those dodge-like calculations in the future."

What's next:

 The CFO’s office plans to expand auditing staff and continue evaluations across more cities in the coming months.