ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency will be in Orlando on Tuesday to get access to Orange County facilities for an extensive audit of the county’s records.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced the DOGE audit in a letter last month.
It requests DOGE access to whatever county facilities, data systems and personnel are needed to investigate a trove of information going back to 2019 on everything from contracting to personnel salaries to DEI and environment-related programs to homeless services.
The state team will be at Orange County’s administration building on Tuesday and Wednesday for the audit.
[VIDEO: Florida DOGE demands records, access in Orange County government audit]
You can read the full letter at the bottom of the story.
The letter is nearly identical to letters the city of Gainesville and the Broward County governments received earlier this month. Gov. Ron DeSantis also announced Manatee County would be subjected to an audit.
In an exclusive interview with the CFO, Ingoglia told News 6’s Matt Austin that county and city spending has gotten out of control as property values have skyrocketed in Florida, and more revenue has come in.
[WATCH: New Florida CFO defends DOGE, ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and home insurance costs]
Counties conduct annual financial audits, which are turned in to the Florida Auditor General every year.
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 separate from the comptroller.
The Florida Auditor General also has the ability to audit any local government at any time. But according to the auditor general’s website, no audit has been done on Orange County since at least 2010.
However, DeSantis and Ingoglia have launched a campaign to go after county and city governments as a way to push for property tax reform. DeSantis has championed even getting rid of local property taxes altogether.
The audits are part of that.
Earlier this year, the state requested financial documents from every county and city government as a prelude to these audits.
[WATCH: DeSantis announces new Florida DOGE task force]
The Florida DOGE team is targeting specific areas of the county’s budget:
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. The state is also asking for records specifically related to the Orange County Multicultural Center in Pine Hills.
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, or the county’s goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. 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 public Wi-Fi 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 the county’s efforts to measure the programs’ effectiveness.
The report does not focus on the different agencies in the county, including constitutional departments that maintain budgets that are paid for by county taxes, like the sheriff’s office, the comptroller’s office, or the supervisor of elections.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings released this statement to News 6 in response:
“While we are in receipt of the Florida DOGE letter and plan to fully cooperate, there are several important factors the state should take into consideration. Since 2020, Orange County has grown by approximately 81,000 residents—a number greater than the population of 29 out of Florida’s 67 counties.
“This substantial growth has placed increasing demands on public services across the county. For example, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has experienced a five-year increase of over 7% in calls for service. Likewise, Orange County Fire Rescue has seen call volumes rise by as much as 15% comparatively over the past five years. These trends highlight the mounting pressure on essential services as our community continues to expand.”
Orange County’s budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year was $7.2 billion.
The largest single source of revenue for the budget was county property taxes.
According to the county’s budget, the county has the 11th lowest property tax rate in the state, and the lowest operating tax rate among county populations with over 1 million people. You can read that budget here.
[WATCH FROM 2024: Orange County taxes increase for fire, emergency services]
Last year, News 6 reported that Orange County approved a property tax hike to pay for fire and emergency services. The increase costs $150 per $250,000 of taxable value for a single-family home in the unincorporated part of the county.
The county was not planning to raise taxes for this year’s budget.
The DOGE campaign comes at a time when many counties and cities are considering raising taxes or fees to close budget deficits, and particularly to raise the pay of law enforcement or emergency response officers.
Brevard County, Seminole County, and the cities of Ocoee, Winter Garden, Casselberry, and Oviedo are just some of the local governments approving or considering raising taxes and fees.
[READ the Florida DOGE letter to Orange County]
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