TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – He is a familiar face to people in the Tampa Bay Area, but now his presence is felt throughout the state.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and the state Doge task force are increasing the number of counties surveyed by county. However, critics have questioned his approach to it.
Florida CFO Ingoglia warns cities to cut property taxes during audits
“I’m going to stay in this office for nine years. I’m now saying that local governments aren’t going away from my audit authorities,” Ingoglia said. “When it comes to spending and taking root on waste, fraud, and abuse, I become a pit bull.”
8 At your side, you asked the new CFO how much Doge could save for the Floridian.
“I think it’s going to depend on the government we’re looking at,” Ingoglia said.
Ingoglia said financially conservative areas save less from these Doge tests than larger counties with a history of overtaxes.
“They can’t tell me there’s no wasted, no fraud or abuse there,” he said. “There is. If we find it and don’t know what to do first, then there is a second and third progression.”
But Florida Democrats inside the Capitol are challenging the motivations behind these investigations.
“What is the purpose of all this? Just to hold it above your head and load it into the local government. That’s not true,” said Fentrice Driskell of D-Tampa, a minority leader in the House. “I think instead, the state should be in a business that helps local governments succeed. It’s always easy to find waste on someone else’s budget, rather than trying to lock them in failure.
As local Doge research intensifies, Florida is approaching peak hurricane season, with CFO Ingoglia returning home to ensure people are financially prepared to handle the approaching storm.
“I explained to the team that the response will start on the ground, which will be the most important thing for them,” he said. “We know that all employees in the state will move to areas where hurricanes have hit and that will help people fill out insurance claims forms and see what they can do to get back together as quickly as possible.”
Democrats argue that state bank accounts may be financially sound, but that doesn’t mean that Florida families are equipped to hit the next storm.
“Our community has families in our community that I represent, trying to bring together lives that are not yet home after two hurricanes last season,” Driskel said.
There are also concerns about insurance to jump in, especially as the nation is waiting for the next hurricane.
“I’ve always said I’m not going to tolerate insurance companies because I haven’t done anything that is contractually mandatory,” Ingoglia said. “They’ll hear from me. They’ll hear from my office. They’ll hear from the Department of Insurance Regulation and Commissioner Mike Yaworski.
