Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia says Orange County is cooperating with the Florida Department of Government Efficiency's audit of local spending.
He spoke in Orlando Tuesday as Florida DOGE staffers visited county offices.
The day before, with a wink emoji on social media, Ingoglia promoted a new unofficial name for DOGE, the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight, or “FAFO,” a common acronym for “f*** around and find out.”
Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad said Ingoglia and Gov. Ron DeSantis were connecting to their base.
“ I also think that they're, speaking to the counties in terms of, we're kind of at their mercy for what they want to ‘F’ around and find out [while] going through the books,” she added.
On Tuesday, Ingoglia said the audits of several cities and counties go back to conversations with DeSantis about property taxes. The governor has proposed a constitutional amendment curtailing or eliminating property taxes for homeowners.
“The first line items that they fund should be fire and police,” Ingoglia said, “and then everything else after that, then you go to essential programs, and then towards the end … what we've seen traditionally from local governments, is they wind up adding a lot of fluff and wind up spending things on [things] they shouldn't be spending on.”
For its part, Orange County has held its countywide tax rate steady but has seen an increase in revenue from rising property values.
Local officials have promised to defend “home rule,” especially as the state has voided the county’s comprehensive plan changes in Vision 2050 and eliminated voter-approved protections for rural land through a new law passed during the last legislative session.
“This is what I say about the home rule argument, especially cities,” Ingoglia said. “Cities come to the Legislature in order to be incorporated, to create the city. And then they create the city, and they wind up overtaxing, overspending, adding ... onerous regulations on the people, and then who protects the people?
“That's where the state comes in. So I don't buy this argument that the state shouldn't get involved in home rule.”
Mayor Jerry Demings said in a recent op-ed that the county's spending -- on public safety, flooding, support for families, affordable housing and transportation -- will "stand up to their scrutiny."
