After facing criticism for not delving into the spending of Republican cities and counties, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia on Tuesday came to GOP-stronghold Seminole County to blast it for raising property taxes to finance “a large, bloated budget.”
“I understand that people have been out there saying this is a way to demonize big blue counties and cities,” Ingoglia said, referring to his team of auditors. “But last time I checked there were five Republicans on the county commission in Seminole. Spending knows no partisan boundaries. Republicans and Democrats are spending us into oblivion.”
But Ingoglia said his team from the Florida Department of Governmental Efficiency, or DOGE, does not currently have plans to audit Seminole’s financial records, as it is doing with Orlando and Orange County, two Democrat-controlled local governments that have not raised tax rates.
Instead, holding up large poster boards with charts and graphs, Ingoglia pointed out in his press conference at the old Seminole Towne Center property that Seminole’s general fund budget has increased by $137 million since the 2019-20 fiscal year, a 46% jump. That is despite the county adding just over 25,000 new residents, or a nearly 6% increase, he said.
“The question you have to ask is: Is an extra 25,000 people in the county worth an increase of $137 million?” he said. “Just because you have more people moving into a city or a county, does not mean that you have a blank check to grow the government exponentially.”
Ingoglia, however, acknowledged that his team had not looked into Seminole’s expenditures to determine what was excessive. And he did not provide any examples. Ingoglia’s critiques of other local governments around the state have also been shy on specifics, although he did go after Orlando last week and again on Tuesday for spending $6,000 annually on its poet laureate.
Ingoglia initially responded negatively last month when asked whether he planned to make an example of Seminole County given its tax rate hikes. Then, on Sep. 26, he said in an exchange on X with a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel that he would look at Seminole.
Tuesday he said that no audit of Seminole is planned, but “we’re more than happy to go on site.” He did not explain what might lead him to do so.
Seminole commissioners last month approved raising the county’s overall property tax rate for the first time in 16 years to keep up with rising costs for insurance, inflation and law enforcement salaries. The new rate of $5.38 per $1,000 of a property’s taxable value took effect Oct. 1 and is a 10.2% increase from the old rate of $4.88.
Also, the county in August raised the gas tax by five cents per gallon and increased Seminole’s public service tax on water and electric bills in the unincorporated areas from 4% to 10%.
Florida DOGE auditors have barnstormed the state over the past few months, largely in Democratic strongholds, looking for alleged lavish use of taxpayer dollars. In July, they ventured into Orange County to collect budget documents and files to look into the county’s spending.
Ingoglia charged that Orange County could “easily” cut nearly $200 million in “wasteful” spending from its budget, and that residents are overtaxed by at least $148 per person. Ingoglia then issued investigative subpoenas for 16 Orange staffers.
That sparked an ongoing feud between the Republican Ingoglia and the Democratic-controlled Orange County government, including Mayor Jerry Demings.
Demings blasted Ingoglia for looking into local governments’ spending, charging the state’s chief financial officer “ought to get his own house in order first before he goes looking into someone else’s house.”
Ingoglia has made his DOGE efforts part of his broader initiative for a proposed statewide referendum in the November 2026 ballot asking Florida voters if property taxes on homesteaded properties should be eliminated.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Ingoglia mentioned the proposed ballot referendum several times.
“There are things governments can do [to reduce spending],” he said. “They can automate things. They can introduce technology. You can get people to be more productive. You just don’t go hire people for the sake of hiring people.”
After the event, Republican Commissioner Lee Constantine joined other Seminole officials to say state leaders are poking into local governments’ finances without getting the full picture of expenditures.
“It’s a made-for-television event for their publicity’s sake,” Contantine said. “You cannot index quality of life.”
Seminole Commission Chair Jay Zembower did add he wanted “to thank the CFO” for looking into the county’s budget.
“We appreciate his opinion,” he said.
