ORLANDO, Fla. – This week, Orange County will deal with a two-day visit by Florida’s DOGE Task Force, which will go over the county’s records in a search for wasteful spending.
The county is one of at least a dozen city and county governments facing audits by the state group created by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year.
DOGE stands for “Department of Government Efficiency,” taken from the federal agency of the same name created by President Trump in January, which, led by Elon Musk, went on a scorched Earth campaign through federal agencies, claiming it was removing government waste.
In February, DeSantis signed an executive order to do the same thing in Florida. The panel is supposed to review 900 state positions, as well as dozens of state boards and commissions to see what can be cut.
[WATCH: DeSantis announces new Florida DOGE task force (from February)]
The governor also announced that the task force would review university spending, local government spending.
“For too long, nobody has cared about the taxpayers, much less the next generation, who is ultimately going to have to pay for all of the mismanagement that we have seen over these many, many years,” DeSantis said.
Earlier this year, the state requested financial documents from every county and city government as a prelude to these audits.
Florida has always had an auditor general, which is able to conduct financial audits of local and state government agencies, from water management districts to school boards to county governments to state agencies.
For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the auditor general conducted 202 audits of government agencies. All of them are posted on the auditor general’s website.
They include audits of Citizens Property Insurance, Eastern Florida State College in Brevard County, the Sumter County School Board, the University of Central Florida, Volusia County School Board, and the Florida Department of Health.
Many local agencies also conduct financial audits, which are turned in to the Florida Auditor General every year.
For instance, Orange County submitted an audit to the state for 2024, which also appeared on the Orange County Comptroller’s website. The audit was conducted by an agency independent from the county.
[WATCH: Florida DOGE demands records, access in Orange County government audit]
DeSantis, however, has made clear the audits are part of his campaign to prove a need to roll back property taxes in the state, or do away with them completely.
New Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, in announcing the first two audits in taking place with the city of Gainesville and Broward County, said property tax reform was a key endgame.
“We eventually want to get to property tax reform with the eventual goal of getting rid of homesteaded property taxes altogether. Because, as the governor said, do you really own your home?” Ingoglia said earlier this month.
Letters announcing the audits to county governments have largely been identical, which indicates the task force is looking for specific information.
The letter to Orange County requested the following records and data:
Procurement and contracting, including all contracts and procurements in excess of $10,000.
Personnel Compensation, including pay, overtime and bonuses for all employees from 2019 to the present, along with employment records.
Property management, including records of all tangible property, any sales, any county-owned property leased to another group and expenditures on renovations.
Utilities, including all utility rate studies.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, including all jobs since Jan. 1, 2020, that had a duty to advance DEI, any training related to DEI or purported “implicit bias,” and any programs or grants that targeted specific groups.
A category called “Green New Deal,” which looks to be about any environmental or green energy programs supported by the county. It includes documents on purchasing EV infrastructure or vehicles, including solar power systems, and records on training related to climate change, battery-operated vehicles or solar power.
Grants and other spending, requesting all records related to grants made to non-governmental organizations, vehicle allowances and other services.
Transportation, including documents on traffic calming devices, and on bicycle lanes, trails or infrastructure.
And finally, Homeless Services, including direct spending by the county, grants to other groups and efforts to measure the programs’ effectiveness.
The audit letter that was sent to the city of Orlando last week also requested data and records on financial management and economic development, consulting and lobbying contracts, and information on how the city managed its affordable housing program.
DOGE audits have also been announced for Manatee County, the cities of Jacksonville and St. Petersburg, and Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
On Monday, Ingoglia posted on X.com that they were going to unofficially rename DOGE the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight, or FAFO.
DeSantis responded on X that he might make that official via executive order.
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