DeSantis’ local DOGE targets Broward — why Orange should brace itself

Ron DeSantis sure knows how to put the “bully” in bully pulpit.

The politician with the biggest platform in Florida is now using it to expose excessive local government spending.

Armed with new political weaponry, he can bully cities and counties into cooperating with his state-level DOGE operation, using the club of $1,000-a-day fines that can’t be appealed.

This crusade begins in Broward County and the city of Gainesville, irresistible targets with  liberal political leaders and voters who soundly rejected DeSantis twice. The mission is badly tainted because it looks nakedly partisan.

When DeSantis came to Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday with newly appointed Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, they both already sounded convinced that Broward is wasting money, even before any research. On spending, Ingoglia called Broward “one of the worst offenders.” That’s the kind of unsupported nonsense Floridians should reject, without solid evidence to back it up.

As County Commissioner Steve Geller said: “They reached their conclusions before they did the audit.” That warning should spark concern among other cities and counties in Florida — particularly big counties controlled by Democrats. That puts Orange County, and its $7.2 billion budget, in the crosshairs of DeSantis’ politically motivated crusade.

What it’s really about

Make no mistake: Local governments should be held accountable for spending public money. Top county officials agree with that. Waste can be found in any  enterprise that spends billions of dollars a year.

But the Ron DeSantis Anti-Tax Propaganda Tour appears to be part of a broader Republican campaign to eliminate or sharply reduce property taxes — with the clear goal of making local governments subservient to the state.

The most radical overhaul of the tax code in our state’s history would require voter approval in November 2026, and that starts by portraying local governments as cartoonishly arrogant, bloated and unaccountable.

The problem, in our opinion, is that the whole notion of DeSantis as a fiscal watchdog is a joke.

Over the past five years, all on his watch, the state budget has ballooned from $92 billion to $117 billion, a 27% increase, a time when state demographers estimate Florida’s population has grown by 7%. And much of that money has been squandered on purely political stunts.

Waste? DeSantis handed out lavish no-bid contracts at “Alligator Alcatraz.” He can go rogue with the state’s checkbook because the Legislature provides so little fiscal supervision.

Fraud? Prosecutors are investigating the suspicious diversion of $10 million from a Medicaid legal settlement for political ads through Hope Florida, a pet charity of DeSantis and his wife, Casey.

Inefficiency? Some full-time state workers earning $200,000-plus a year can live out of state (DeSantis recently vetoed a bill that would force them to live here). Nobody who works full-time for Broward County lives in West Virginia.

Follow the tax money

Any thorough review of how Broward spends property taxes would immediately lead to one place: the Broward Sheriff’s Office, where Dr. Gregory Tony spends more than half of all property taxes collected by the county.

That’s not unusual: In virtually every city and county in Florida, public safety is a leading recipient of property taxes (along with public schools).

As this newspaper has documented, the self-promoting sheriff has been a profligate spender on everything from $80,000 luxury Yukon Denali SUVs to personalized shower curtains at a BSO fitness complex.

We haven’t heard DeSantis question that. One reason — just a hunch — could be that DeSantis appointed Tony sheriff.

County commissioners are increasingly skeptical of Tony’s grandiose spending requests, as they should be. He wanted 14% more money for next year and they tentatively offered him 3%.

Any politician seeking to abolish property taxes should expect to be accused of that old GOP smear of “defunding the police,” because without property taxes, it will be very difficult to keep sheriff’s deputies on the streets of Broward.

Promises of cooperation

So far, Broward County’s response to DeSantis has been professional. Local governments across Florida should start gathering the same kinds of information.

County Administrator Monica Cepero cited the county’s strong AAA bond rating (something Orange County can also boast) and ample cash reserves of 15.1% with no general obligation bond debt and a flat property tax rate for the past decade. Orange County’s fiscal picture is a little different, with reserves at 7.1%, but it has the lowest property tax rate among counties with more than 1 million residents as of the 2024-25 budget year.

For two days next week, the CFO will send auditors to Broward, seeking access to data systems and “responsive personnel.” A letter from the governor’s office seeks a vast trove of records on everything from overtime to grants to nonprofits to the cost of the county’s “Green New Deal” resiliency program.

The request runs for seven full pages and gives the county nine days to respond.

The focus on spending for a climate change action plan also reveals the larger political agenda behind this fiscal fishing expedition.

Orange County officials should be watching the events in Broward closely, as should the city of Orlando. But officials in Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties shouldn’t assume they’ll be spared by their political leanings. DeSantis has proven that he will turn on anyone in search of political advantage.

If any good comes of this, it will be a deeper public understanding of why property taxes matter and what they buy. We encourage fiscal authorities in all local governments to prepare for an onslaught designed to discredit. One good example to follow: Historically red Seminole County’s detailed, credible defense of its local-option sales tax, which lets residents know exactly how they benefit from infrastructure spending across the county.

Local leaders across Florida should  give serious thought to a “property tax primer” web page,  showing taxpayers how every county tax dollar is being spent. Who knows? It might even teach DeSantis a thing or two about how he spends our money.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant, Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.