In the latest salvo between Seminole County and Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, it appears Blaise Ingoglia is backing off his accusations the Republican-led county is overspending by tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money every year.
“We appreciate your openness, cooperation and dialogue in an effort to better understand the details of your expenditures, both recent and historical,” Ingoglia said in an Oct. 24 letter to Seminole Commission Chair Jay Zembower. “No further action is needed on your part. Please continue looking out for the taxpayers of Seminole County.”
It was a surprising turn following Ingoglia’s blistering press conference in Sanford three weeks earlier, in which he angrily blasted Seminole for raising property taxes to finance what he called “a large, bloated budget.”
Using large poster boards with charts and graphs, Ingoglia said Seminole is overspending by $120 million annually. He added his team from the Florida Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was prepared to deeply dive into the county’s financial records, as it is doing with Democratic-controlled Orlando and Orange County.
“Knock, knock, Seminole County,” Ingoglia said flippantly at the Oct. 3 press conference.
Zembower then fired back at Ingoglia on behalf of Seminole, saying in an Oct. 15 letter to the CFO that the county’s budget has risen primarily because of mandates from the state government without any compensation from the Legislature.
Ingoglia’s “analysis of our County budget presents an incomplete picture of our local government operations,” Zembower said in his letter.
For example, $121.5 million of the county’s general fund includes spending $73 million on jail operations; $19.3 million in court support; $10.8 million on Medicaid; the medical examiner, health department and veteran services; $7.8 million on SunRail; $6.7 million on state retirement contributions; and $3.9 million on other mandated services.
Seminole officials said Wednesday they would not comment on Ingoglia’s latest letter.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has not received a similar letter from Ingoglia, a spokesperson said.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s office did not respond in time on whether they also received a similar letter.
Ingoglia was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in July after former CFO Jimmy Patronis resigned to run for Congress.
Since then, Ingoglia has traveled across the state railing against local government spending in mostly Democratic areas and advocating for the elimination of property taxes on homesteaded houses.
Seminole commissioners in August approved raising the county’s overall property tax rate for the first time in 16 years. The new rate of $5.38 per $1,000 of a property’s taxable value is a 10.2% jump from the old rate of $4.88. County leaders said the increase was needed to keep up with the rising costs of insurance, inflation and law enforcement salaries.
That increase drew Ingoglia’s attention.
County commissioners also agreed in August to raise the gas tax by five cents per gallon and increase Seminole’s public service tax on water and electric bills in the unincorporated areas from 4% to 10% starting in January.
In his letter, Ingoglia thanked Zembower for “providing additional insight and context regarding your budget and your budget process.”
