Below is an official statement from the office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Gov. Ron Desantis joined Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia to highlight examples of wasted spending in cities and counties throughout the state. The Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) traveled to 12 jurisdictions throughout the state to seek waste, fraud, abuse and identify opportunities for improvement. Today’s example is just a few of the Doge Task Force findings from these visits and data requests sent to all 411 municipalities and 67 counties in Florida.
“The Florida Dozi team has been researching cities and counties where taxpayers raise concerns about wasteful spending,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “These audits reveal a lot of irresponsible uses of taxpayer funds. It’s pointless for local governments to raise taxes on Floridians to subsidize wasteful spending. Under my leadership, Floridians can expect financial responsibility at the state level.
Through a review of local governments in collaboration with the office of CFO Blaise Ingoglia, Florida Doge discovered.
The city of Jacksonville paid $75,000 for Mayor Donna Deegan’s “hologram,” greeting travelers at Jacksonville International Airport in multiple languages, paying $7.5 million for a one-mile walkway project, nearly eight times the average FDOT estimate, and giving $1.9 million to a DEI-focused arts group. The city of Pensacola brings a drug show to the city’s Seanger Theater, paying $150,000 a year to the management company that paid $300,000 for its stock-centered strategic plans and housing “stock surveys.” The city of Gainesville pays the mayor of Equity and Inclusion, prioritizing indoctrinating employees who are split into racial and identity themes for key activities to serve residents. The city of Orlando has spent $460,000 since 2020 counting trees as part of the city’s “tree stock,” helping illegals avoid deportation for $150,000 over three years. The city of St. Petersburg paid $258,000, including funds from the city’s utilities and EMS funds to support the Pride event, and spent $307,000 on the Climate Action Plan to promote the Green New Deal Initiative. Alachua County paid $31,000 for “Teen Time” Planned Parenthood, designed for a 13-year-old child. Orange County spent $223,000 on LGBT youth services, promoted gender ideology to adolescent groups, and paid $240,000 to a left-wing urban planning company that carries out activities “from a racial, social and healthy equity perspective.” Hillsboro County spends $572,000 to train county employees on what is called “unconscious bias,” and offers $950,000 with little transparency in the vehicle allowances for county employees. Pinellas County spends $75,000 each year to sponsor its annual “Pride” Festival. Broward County has spent $890,000 on DEI training since 2020. This includes training to promote gender fluidity and transgender ideology. They also spent $175,000 on creating virtual art in Metaverse and $44,000 to support the United Nations treaty, which calls for Americans to accept gender allocations and to accept unequal treatment in the service of a presumably equal “outcomes.”
These are just a few of the many examples of wasted spending that Florida Dozi has identified across the state.
“Floridians across the state have made it clear that they no longer tolerate taxpayer dollar waste, fraud and abuse,” said Chief Financial Officer Blaze Ingoglier. “I travelled the state and exposed nearly $1 billion in wasted taxpayer dollars in just five local governments. The local government is poor, but continues to waste things like “counting trees.” Taxpayers are tired of it.
Florida has led the national approach to financial responsibility. Under Governor DeSantis’ tenure, Florida has paid almost 50% of the state’s historic tax-supporting debt, making the most of the state’s rainy day fund. Florida also maintains the lowest ratio of state government workers to state population, with 96 full-time employees per 10,000 residents. Additionally, the governor signing the 2025-2026 fiscal year marks the second consecutive year of a year-over-year reduction in state spending.
For the latest updates on the Florida Doge initiative, visit @Dogefla on X.
