Florida Doge for Local Government Expenses Increases Accountability

Gov. Ron DeSantis has doubled the Florida government’s view of cutting spending at the federal level, making it important to have local governments accountable for looking for taxpayers.

DeSantis recently announced the creation of the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force. Florida already boasts the lowest number of state workers per capita in the country, but the governor is determined to find more ways to streamline work and reduce waste.

However, efficiency cannot halt at the state level. Taxpayers deserve the same accountability at the local level, just as county and local government purchasing departments wield huge forces to approve multi-year multi-year contracts.

Overlooked power

The federal and state governments are attracting media attention, but local purchasing departments quietly recommend and renew long-term contracts with minimal surveillance. Once the contract reaches the city council or county board agreement agenda, the argument often does not exist. Once approved, these contracts will usually remain unverified for 5-10 years until renewal.

This is not to say that local governments are inherently false funding. However, you should expect appropriate safeguards and ethical guidelines to protect taxpayers. President Ronald Reagan’s famous advice on “trust” applies here. Unlike state governments that follow a unified procurement policy, each local entity often sets its own rules without external supervision. As a result, taxpayers face inconsistent protection and potential inefficiencies.

Local procurement challenges

Local purchasing agents face an overwhelming task of advertising, valuing, performing, updating, and overseeing hundreds of contracts for goods and services that cannot be mastered.

For example, when a bidder proposes a new contract, who guarantees that a “competitive bid” is not secretly written? A single provision, such as requiring certification from the European Standards Group in place of its American equivalent, can effectively surround contracts with sources and block fair competition.

Some contracts have locked up unnecessary expenses for years. The contracts are so long that new vendors rarely get the opportunity to compete, despite domestic alternatives, cities and counties of imported goods are overpaid. In the face of tariff fluctuations, domestic suppliers become a smarter safeguard against rising costs, but outdated contract terms often prevent such changes.

The fantasy of competition

Many local contracts are configured to automatically renew. This means that vendors hold advantageous contracts without facing new competition. Even if the original price rises significantly, renewal is permitted for convenience, rather than restructuring the contract. If the contract is written to support one vendor, competition is merely an illusion, and taxpayers step into inflated costs bills.

Worse, when challenging an unfair contract, there is no clear surveillance mechanism. Even if inefficiency is discovered, there are often ways to report or correct it, sometimes several years later, until the contract expires. With purchasing agents managing countless contracts, there is little incentive to challenge the status quo, even if taxpayers benefit. This needs to be changed.

Expanding accountability

For more than 40 years, Florida Tax Watch served as the Doge version of Florida, identifying inefficiencies and saving taxpayers through data-driven research.

One of our most proud initiatives is the government productivity awards. This means allowing more state government officials to promote efficiency. This year, we aim to expand awards to local governments and provide recommendations to help counties and cities operate more effectively and transparently.

At Florida TaxWatch, we promise to be a watchdog at all levels of government, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. But we cannot do it alone. We need citizen involvement to speak up, ask questions, and demand accountability.

Dominique M. Calabro led the world-class research team at Florida Taxwatch (the “eyes and ears” of taxpayers) as president and CEO of almost every 45 years of existence in the organization.