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CFO Blaise Ingoglia critiques Orlando poet laureate, hot yoga programs
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia scrutinized several cities' and counties' spending in Florida discovered through the state's DOGE efforts, including Jacksonville, Orlando, Gainesville, Orange County. In Orlando, he questioned the funding for Orlando's Poet Laureate program, hot yoga classes for employees, and some other training programs.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia took a poetic approach to his criticism of alleged spending by some cities and counties in the state, part of the Florida DOGE team's financial audits of those cities.
Ingoliga and Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed the findings of the Florida DOGE audit during a press conference on Wednesday. "Stop waste" read the sign on the podium.
"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," Gov. Desantis said in a statement, noting that Florida's DOGE team has visited 12 cities and counties in the state "to seek out waste, fraud, and abuse."
Both said these examples of "wasteful" taxpayer spending are why property taxes in Florida are rising. Gov. DeSantis wants to greatly reduce or eliminate property taxes, which would require lawmakers to amend the state's constitution and 60% of Floridians would have to vote in favor at the ballot box.
DeSantis: Here are examples of ‘wasteful’ spending found by Florida DOGE
This is pulled from a news release the Florida Governor's Office issued following the press conference. Since then, some cities and counties have refuted some of the governor's claims.
City of Orlando
- Provided training on microaggressions and advanced energy equity ("whatever the heck that means," Ingoglia said during his press conference).
- $460,000 since 2020 to count trees as part of its "tree inventory."
- $150,000 over three years to allegedly help undocumented immigrants evade deportation
What they're saying:
"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)," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer in a statement in response to the Governor's press conference.
The City of Orlando said its tree program is not funded through property taxes, but through removal permits, developer mitigation fees, and grants. The city said it received $70,500 in grants over the last 5 years. The poet Laureate program was modeled after the state's Poet Laureate, the city said. The annual stipend has increased since 2018 from $3,000 a year to $4000, then $6000, the city said.
Orange County
- $223,000 for LGBT youth services that "promote gender ideology to youth populations"
- $240,000 to a "left-wing urban planning firm that carries out its activities from a ‘race, social, and healthy equity perspective’"
City of Gainesville
- City Director of Equity and Inclusion paid a salary of $189,000
City of Jacksonville
- $75,000 for a "hologram" of Mayor Donna Deegan to greet travelers at Jacksonville International Airport in multiple languages
- Paid $7.5 million for a 1-mile sidewalk project
- Awarded $1.9 million in grants to DEI-focused arts groups.
City of Pensacola
- $150,000 a year 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."
City of St. Petersburg
- $258,000, including funds from the city’s utility and EMS funds, to support Pride events
- $307,000 on a climate action plan to promote Green New Deal initiatives.
Alachua County
- $31,000 to Planned Parenthood for "Teen Time."
Hillsborough County
- $572,000 to train employees on "unconscious bias."
- $950,000 for county employee vehicle allowance "with very little transparency."
Pinellas County
- $75,000 each year to sponsor yearly Pride festival
Broward County
- $890,000 on DEI training since 2020
- $175,000 on virtual art in the Metaverse
- $44,000 to support a UN treat "promoting gender equity that seeks to compel Americans to accept gender quotas and unequal treatment in service of supposedly equal ‘outcomes’"
What is Florida DOGE?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis established the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in February 2025 via Executive Order in wake of the federal agency with similar goals – to review, audit, and eliminate wasteful spending in local and state governments.
Since then, the Florida DOGE audit team has conducted at least 12 in-person audits of cities and counties in the state. Others were required to send documents and reports to the Florida DOGE team for review.
The Source: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia held a press conference in Jacksonville on Oct. 1, 2025. The Governor's Office then issued a press release about the press conference. DeSantis