Florida CFO says Hillsborough has $270 million in excessive spending

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s chief financial officer, Blaise Ingoglia, said Hillsborough County has more than $270 million in "excessive expenditures."

"Hillsborough County's budget should be $270 million less than what it is right now. And to be clear, that is fully funding fire and fully funding your law enforcement," Ingoglia said. "These are high-level spending numbers, the specific numbers of exactly what they are spending on, um, so you can go like line by line will come out later at a later date in the Doge reports. Let me also preface that by saying that the those reports they're not going, uh ,they're not going through the budgets for like a full forensic audit; they're just going to pull some examples of waste, fraud and abuse, and then voters can make up their mind. Is the stuff that local governments spending money on a good use of taxpayer dollars."

CFO Blaise Ingoglia said his office determined the number by using the county’s 2019 baseline budget, then adjusting for inflation and population growth to account for increases in public safety funding, and police and fire department raises.

"We went back to the budget in 2019 fiscal year 2019, 2020, which was pre-COVID, COVID, pre the explosion of local government coffers filling. We took that budget and we indexed it forward every year on large spreadsheets," Ingoglia said. "We indexed it every year for inflation plus population growth. Then, in addition to that, we actually added not one but 2 government inefficiency buffers."

Hillsborough County commissioners from both parties were contacted for comment.

Democrat Harry Cohen sent Tampa Bay 28 a statement:

Hillsborough County’s budget – which passed unanimously with full support from members of both political parties – is closely scrutinized and transparent. Our financial stewardship has been recognized with AAA bond ratings from all three major rating agencies. Since there is no detail provided to back up the CFOs statements, it is impossible to know where he thinks we should cut. The vast majority of our budget is for public safety – namely the Sheriff, fire rescue and emergency services and the court system, as well as for infrastructure and transportation safety. If any commissioner feels that such spending is wasteful, they are free to make a motion at any time to remove any item – and with four votes they can reduce the budget.

Ingoglia said the numbers he presented today show property tax relief is achievable. Since Florida DOGE audits began about a month ago, the CFO has advocated for lowering property taxes—an idea supported by a business owner who spoke at today’s press conference and hopes it will help businesses.

However, voters we talked to when the audits began remain divided.

"But when families have less money in their pockets to spend, and businesses that they patronize suffer," said Steve Manning, owner of Master Garage and Door.

"Property taxes take care of our schools, our roads, things around our community, and I think we should leave that alone," said Marisa Singleton, a Hillsborough County resident.

Earlier this week, Florida lawmakers concluded two days of hearings on property taxes, but still do not have a clear plan for how those cuts would be implemented.