The Palm Beach Post reports that Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia failed to explain how his auditors concluded that Palm Beach County overspent $344 million during the past five years.
- Palm Beach County Administrator Joe Abruzzo filed a public records request in early December, calling on Ingoglia to provide the formula and methodology used to claim the county had engaged in wasteful spending. The public records request asked for worksheets, spreadsheets and supporting data used to generate the $344 million figure.
The answer came on Dec. 15: A search of the Department’s files produced no responsive documents.
- To date, the CFO, Florida Agency on Fiscal Oversight and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have yet to release any reports backing Ingoglia’s claims that Florida municipalities and counties have wasted $1.8 billion. We have had plenty of media events, press releases and headlines, but no reports.
Background: On Dec. 4, CFO Ingoglia announced over $344 million in the Palm Beach County Budget as “excessive, wasteful spending”. He called on Palm Beach County to take action to reduce wasteful spending and provide needed property tax relief to residents.
- He said, “As we continue to call out wasteful spending across the state, Palm Beach County has dethroned Miami-Dade with the amount of taxpayer dollars they are wastefully spending this year alone. These numbers keep surprising me, and it is astonishing to see big government bureaucrats take advantage of their residents’ tax dollars. As CFO, it is my mission to provide transparency into the local budget to Floridians so they can hold their officials accountable, and we will continue to make our way throughout the state.”
Pensacola Blunder
In October, Gov. DeSantis and Ingoglia held a media event in Jacksonville. Ingoglia blasted the City of Pensacola for its “Welcome to Pensacola” at the foot of the Chappie James Bridge, citing it among a list of local government expenditures that he said Florida DOGE audits determined were excessive and wasteful.
- However, the sign, which was erected in April, was funded solely with state and federal dollars. NO local property taxes were used. None.