TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida is launching a series of financial audits targeting local governments, with Gainesville and Broward County first on the docket.
Starting July 31, state auditors will begin on-site inspections to identify if there is any wasteful spending taking place across cities and counties. Newly appointed Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia is leading the effort, with support from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made local government efficiency a key priority.
“We have the authority. This is no longer optional,” said DeSantis. “We don’t have to ask … ‘Mother, may I?’ We can just simply say you must comply under the law.”
Armed with new enforcement authority, state officials may levy fines of $1,000 per day to municipalities that do not cooperate.
“Having auditors go in and start questioning some of these things is the first step to bringing fiscal sanity back to local governments because, quite frankly, local governments have been running amok for way too long,” DeSantis said.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said he isn’t surprised his city is among the first to be reviewed, noting its political reputation.
“I am not surprised that we are part of it because … the city of Gainesville is a more liberal community than a lot of Florida,” Ward said.
The city, he added, operates with limited staff — and responding to state audits could strain resources.
“It takes staff to respond to these things,” Ward said. “Because we are a very lean operation, when we spend time working with the DOGE office next week or as many times as we need to, that will take people away from other tasks.”
Despite the pressure, Ward says the city has nothing to hide.
“We have our own internal audits, our own external audits. We are an open book,” he said. “We’re happy to let folks know what we do here in Gainesville, because we have a pretty good story to tell.”
State officials estimate that between 10 and 15 local audits will roll out over the coming weeks.