Latest news with #FloridaDepartmentofGovernmentEfficiency
Fox News
05-08-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Florida dispatches DOGE agents to Fort Lauderdale, Gainesville to analyze tax hikes, ‘reckless' trends
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and State CFO Blaise Ingoglia have sent teams from the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (FLDOGE) into two major blue jurisdictions, citing ballooning budgets and rising taxes as cause for outside accountability. "Florida is the model for fiscal responsibility at the state level, and we will utilize our authority to ensure local governments follow suit," DeSantis said in a statement after sending teams from Tallahassee to Broward County and Alachua County. "Florida's DOGE efforts are owed to the taxpayer and yet another way their state is pursuing fiscal responsibility," he said of the operations. FLDOGE alleged Floridians living in Broward County — anchored by Fort Lauderdale — have seen $450 million in additional "ad valorem" (property/auto/sales) taxes coming in to the county government. The agency said Broward's operating budget expanded by $1.2 billion over a recent period in which the population only increased 5%. On the other end of Florida's Turnpike, Gainesville is primed to spend $90 million more annually than four years ago, according to DeSantis. "This increase in spending is now levied in part on Gainesville property owners, who are expected to pay 85% more in property taxes than what they paid in 2020," a statement from the governor's office read. The statement added that some of that rise was genuinely related to spiking property values in Florida — which has seen a deluge of northeasterners escaping high-tax states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts. Ingoglia called the operation part of a "new era of transparency and accountability." "For years, I've called out reckless local spending, often on things taxpayers would never support if they knew the full story," said Ingoglia, who was previously a state senator for Hernando County and the Suncoast. Ingoglia said it is FLDOGE's job to open the books and demand answers to "bring fiscal sanity back." Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward confirmed to Fox News Digital the city hosted FLDOGE officials and gave them "all the information they could possibly need to review the excellent work of our city for the past several years." "I'm hopeful they will be able to put our best practices to work across the state, as Gainesville has seen historic improvements in crime and pedestrian safety as well as growth in affordable housing production over the past two years," Ward said. Ward said Gainesville is an "open book" when it comes to transparency of taxpayer resources and that he stands by the efficiency of his government. The mayor went on to discuss the city's own belt-tightening, citing debt reduction and elimination of 160 staff positions and improving its municipal credit rating. "We are now seeing other historically blue-leaning cities and counties in Florida undergoing similar scrutiny, and I'm certain they will return good results as well," Ward said. Meanwhile, Broward officials were nonplussed at the visitors from Tallahassee. Broward County Mayor Beam Furr told Miami's PBS affiliate that as a "home rule" county, Broward reserves the right to refuse forced reallocation of resources from the state. Furr added that it will also cost resources for the added manpower to upload and pore through "thousands" of pages of documentation in response to FLDOGE's inquiries. "It's a huge imposition," he said, as the report added FLDOGE is also seeking information on surtax revenue that goes to the county's public bus system. The county also balked at FLDOGE's inquiry's subsection referring to the Green New Deal, as Furr said his office has never adopted the far-left framework created by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. But the mayor said climate change as an issue is rightly on the mind in Fort Lauderdale, which sits close to sea level. FLDOGE indicated that several other jurisdictions are under audit and may soon see agency staff visit as well. Orange, which includes Orlando and most of Walt Disney World; Hillsborough, which includes Tampa; and Pinellas, which includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater, are all counties that could hear Ingoglia's staff knock at their door.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DeSantis: Donalds hasn't been part of victories we've had in Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took a swipe at Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) Monday as the congressman inches closer to launching his gubernatorial campaign in the state. 'My view is Donald Trump just got into office. I want these congressmen focused on enacting his agenda. They haven't done very much yet,' DeSantis told reporters when asked whether he planned to endorse Donalds. 'They're not putting his executive orders into place. We'll see what they do on the spending, but we have such a narrow majority that to be trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that's advisable at all,' he continued. 'The reality is we've achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there,' he said. 'I think people look at it and say you've got a guy like Byron, he just hasn't been a part of any of the victories that we've had here over the left over these last years. He's just not been a part of it. He's been in other states campaigning doing that and that's fine, but OK, then deliver results up there.' DeSantis made the comments at a press conference announcing Florida Department of Government Efficiency efforts. The governor and the congressman fell out during the 2024 Republican presidential primary when Donalds endorsed President Trump over DeSantis. While DeSantis and Trump have made efforts to repair their relationship after their primary battle, Donalds has become one of Trump's most vocal surrogates. Trump publicly pushed Donalds to launch a gubernatorial bid on Thursday, writing on his platform Truth Social that the congressman 'would be a great and powerful governor for Florida.' Donalds told The Hill on Friday that he has not spoken to DeSantis about his expected gubernatorial run, but he said, 'I know we will.' When asked whether DeSantis will endorse him, Donalds said 'it's too early for that.' Donalds has privately told Florida Republican donors and operatives that he plans to run for governor, but he stopped short of announcing a bid at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. 'As for me, stay tuned,' Donalds told the conference. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
24-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
DeSantis: Donalds hasn't been part of victories we've had in Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took a swipe at Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) Monday as the congressman inches closer to launching his gubernatorial campaign in the state. 'My view is Donald Trump just got into office. I want these congressmen focused on enacting his agenda. They haven't done very much yet,' DeSantis told reporters when asked whether he planned to endorse Donalds. 'They're not putting his executive orders into place. We'll see what they do on the spending, but we have such a narrow majority that to be trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that's advisable at all,' he continued. 'The reality is we've achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there,' he said. 'I think people look at it and say you've got a guy like Byron, he just hasn't been a part of any of the victories that we've had here over the left over these last years. He's just not been a part of it. He's been in other states campaigning doing that and that's fine, but OK, then deliver results up there.' DeSantis made the comments at a press conference announcing Florida Department of Government Efficiency efforts. The governor and the congressman fell out during the 2024 Republican presidential primary when Donalds endorsed President Trump over DeSantis. While DeSantis and Trump have made efforts to repair their relationship after their primary battle, Donalds has become one of Trump's most vocal surrogates. Trump publicly pushed Donalds to launch a gubernatorial bid on Thursday, writing on his platform Truth Social that the congressman 'would be a great and powerful governor for Florida.' Donalds told The Hill on Friday that he has not spoken to DeSantis about his expected gubernatorial run, but he said, 'I know we will.' When asked whether DeSantis will endorse him, Donalds said 'it's too early for that.' Donalds has privately told Florida Republican donors and operatives that he plans to run for governor, but he stopped short of announcing a bid at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. 'As for me, stay tuned,' Donalds told the conference.
