Florida’s bureaucrats thought they could hide behind local government status to avoid accountability.
Governor Ron DeSantis just proved them dead wrong.
And Ron DeSantis unleashed one DOGE audit that has local government bureaucrats scrambling.
DeSantis brings federal DOGE model to Florida’s doorstep
Ron DeSantis isn’t waiting around for Washington bureaucrats to clean house – he’s doing it himself right here in Florida.
The Governor announced Thursday that his state version of the Department of Government Efficiency will conduct its first major audit of Manatee County, bringing Elon Musk’s federal waste-cutting model straight to Florida’s local governments.¹
Standing in Bradenton, DeSantis made it crystal clear that no level of government in Florida gets a free pass when it comes to taxpayer dollars.
“We’re here in Manatee County to announce that Manatee County will be the next subject of the DOGE examinations and audits with this newfound state authority,” DeSantis declared.² “We’ve had a lot of feedback, a lot of concerned people who have asked us to take a look at this when they found out this was something that was in the budget.”
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1948421396008468839
This comes just two days after DeSantis announced similar audits for Gainesville and Broward County – proving that his DOGE teams aren’t playing favorites.
The numbers that caught DeSantis’ attention tell the whole story
When DeSantis started digging into Manatee County’s finances, the numbers painted a troubling picture that would make any fiscal conservative’s blood boil.
Property tax receipts in Manatee County have skyrocketed by 86% over the past six fiscal years, translating to $213 million in increased collections from hardworking taxpayers.³
But here’s the kicker – the county’s population only grew by about 14% during that same period.
“There is some dissonance there,” DeSantis said with the kind of understated authority that comes from actually knowing the numbers inside and out.
The Governor also called out the county for “bogarting” a massive $734 million in reserves while taxpayers struggle with rising costs.
“Look we run budget surpluses in Florida, we’ve maxed out the rainy day fund, but there’s also a point at which we shouldn’t just be bogarting money,” DeSantis explained.⁴ “We want to give back, we want to give back to taxpayers.”
That’s exactly the kind of straight talk taxpayers have been waiting to hear from someone in authority.
DeSantis gives bureaucrats nowhere to hide
The beauty of DeSantis’ DOGE operation lies in its legal teeth – something local bureaucrats are just now discovering they can’t ignore.
Thanks to legislation passed earlier this year, DeSantis’ Office of Policy and Budget now has the authority to review any local government’s spending over the last two years.⁵
They’re specifically targeting spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, overspending, waste, fraud, abuse, and duplicative programs.
Local governments have exactly seven business days to provide access to their personnel, budget experts, physical premises, and data systems when the state comes knocking.
Refuse to comply? That’ll cost them $1,000 per day for each specific request.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who’s leading the DOGE efforts, made sure everyone understood this isn’t about political party lines.
“As a fiscal watchdog and as a friend of the taxpayer, it doesn’t matter if a county or city is republican-led or democrat-led,” Ingoglia stated.⁶ “What matters to me is if you are spending over and above what you should be spending.”
The bigger picture
The county commission voted in May to create a citizen’s advisory committee specifically to work with the state’s DOGE efforts.
First-year Commissioner Carol Felts told reporters that the new board is ready to embrace budget cuts.
“This is a new board, mostly, and we’re just getting into our budget sessions,” Felts explained.⁷ “We’ve proposed several things that fold into the governors mission, but we just haven’t really had the chance to make those moves yet.”
Felts made it clear that the new commission has different priorities than their predecessors.
“I think that if we focus on prioritizing we can fit our budget to first take care of our essentials, then take care of our promised concurrency, then look at what we need,” she said.⁸ “If that means we have to cut on the niceties, I think we’ve got a public out there that says, ‘I would rather have a safe road to drive on,’ than say, ‘My family was in a wreck on the way to a splash pad.’”
That’s the kind of common-sense approach taxpayers actually want from their elected officials.
Property tax crisis
Florida’s local governments pulled in over $55 billion through property taxes in 2024 – representing a doubling of collections since 2014.⁹
That represents a 46% increase just since 2021, hitting Florida families right in the wallet during an already difficult economic period.
DeSantis criticized local governments for taking advantage of increasing property values to collect more taxes instead of lowering rates to help taxpayers.
“We do appreciate lower millage rates, and I know taxpayers do appreciate it, but you also have to look at where is that assessment going,” DeSantis said.¹⁰ “There is a world where the millage rate being lower you still will pay more net taxes if they assess your property high enough.”
This demonstrates exactly the kind of sophisticated understanding of tax policy that voters hoped for when they elected DeSantis.
More audits coming as DeSantis expands the offensive
DeSantis made it clear that Manatee County is just the beginning of his statewide efficiency campaign.
His DOGE teams are already reviewing Marco Island, Fort Myers, and dozens of other jurisdictions across Florida.
Starting July 31, these teams will conduct on-site inspections of county and city spending records and policies.
“We have already been working with over 75 counties and cities throughout Florida that have agreed to submit to voluntary DOGE-ing to root out any waste, fraud, and abuse,” DeSantis announced.¹¹
The Governor plans to announce additional jurisdictions for review in the coming weeks, keeping bureaucrats across the state on their toes.
What makes this particularly effective is that DeSantis is using the same proven model that Elon Musk deployed at the federal level to eliminate waste and inefficiency.
The difference is that DeSantis has the legal authority and political will to actually force compliance – something that’s been missing from government efficiency efforts for decades.
Florida taxpayers finally have a Governor who’s willing to take on bloated budgets at every level of government, not just talk about it during campaign season.
¹ Jesse Mendoza, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis eyes Manatee County budget as DOGE efforts reach the local level,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 24, 2025.
² Alaina Papazian, “Gov. Ron DeSantis announces Florida D.O.G.E. audit of Manatee County,” WFLA, July 24, 2025.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Bryce Johnson, “Florida Gov. DeSantis, CFO Ingoglia announce DOGE audits in Manatee County,” WTSP, July 24, 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Mendoza, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis eyes Manatee County budget.”
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Papazian, “Gov. Ron DeSantis announces Florida D.O.G.E. audit.”
¹¹ J. Kyle Foster, “Florida DOGE is knocking on Marco Island’s door, looking for documents, waste,” Naples Daily News, July 25, 2025.
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Author: rgcory
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