DeSantis announces audits of local government spending, starting with Broward
That's according to Governor Ron DeSantis who made the announcement Tuesday morning in Fort Lauderdale with the state's newly sworn-in Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.
DeSantis said their spending just doesn't add up.
"Their county government has increased property tax burdens by the tune of $450 million, in addition to ad valorem collections, that's an increase of close to 50% just since 2020, but yet the population of Broward has barely grown at all, less than 5%," he said.
The governor said the county is spending as if the money belongs to someone else.
"I think it was, was it $800,000 for the Rose Bowl? They did a float in the Rose Bowl. The county administrator here makes almost half a million dollars a year. So there's a lot of things that really deserve scrutiny," he said.
Ingoglia, who was sworn-in as CFO on Monday, said they're going to begin auditing municipalities and agencies on July 31st with a team on the ground and using artificial intelligence.
If the municipalities and agencies don't comply, DeSantis said not only will the state withhold funding, there will also be fines.
"For example, if we send a letter to a city and say, you know, provide us information on these 100 things, and they don't do it, then each individual item would be a daily fine of $1,000, so that'd be 100,000 a day," he said.
The governor said they are starting with areas where they've gotten a lot of complaints and little compliance.
So where does Miami-Dade stand?
"I don't think they fully got on board, but we do have some of the commissioners that are helping on that. So I would say that they've been better than some, but not good enough. So, I think it's very possible that you'll see an announcement on Miami-Dade within the next couple weeks," DeSantis said.
At Ingoglia's swearing-in ceremony, the governor announced that a top priority of the CFO would be audits of local government spending. The focus on such spending comes amid a push by DeSantis to ask voters in 2026 to reduce or eliminate taxes on homesteaded properties. Local governments rely heavily on property taxes.
In addition to local government audits, Ingoglia said he will focus on ensuring insurance companies follow requirements.
"If they're slowing stuff, we're going to have conversations with them," Ingoglia said. "I'm not going to sit back. I'm not going to allow anyone to game the system, whether it is on one side or the other side, whether it is trial attorneys gaming the system or insurance companies gaming the system."
Critics have accused some property insurers of not properly paying claims and have raised questions about carriers sending money to shareholders and affiliated companies while seeking rate increases.
In his remarks during Monday's ceremony, Ingoglia called the appointment to the Cabinet post an "honor that has been bestowed upon me."
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