Less than one month after Manatee County commissioners finalized the fiscal year 2026 budget, Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia announced they had “overspent” $112.4 million in fiscal 2025.
Commissioner Jason Bearden said CFO Sheila McLean certainly didn’t give him that impression during the recent budget meetings. Manatee County’s fiscal 2026 budget was approved Sept. 22.
“I was struggling to cut $3 million from a billion-dollar budget,” Bearden said.
Bearden, along with Commissioner Bob McCann, advocated for a larger cut to the millage, but in the end, Bearden settled for a reduction of .05 mills.
McCann was the lone vote against the millage and the overall budget. He told the East County Observer that he dissented because the millage was too high and the administration was too top heavy. He also cited too many workers.
During a press conference, held Oct. 16 at Pier 22 in Bradenton, Ingoglia said Manatee County could have cut 1.09 mills. On a $500,000 home, that is the difference between $25 at .05 mills and $545 at 1.09 mills.
Bearden noted how helpful that information could have been during the budget workshops when he was making a case that the county is holding far too much money in its reserves, which are nearing $1 billion.
“Staff is going to tell us what they’re comfortable with,” he said. “They might not be comfortable with a 1.0 millage cut because they have to make it work.”
While Bearden never attempted to reduce the millage by as much as 1.09 mills, he’s interested in learning how the state thinks it’s possible when county staff has told him far less is impossible.
Ingoglia said there were two audits being conducted. He was only discussing the first audit that addressed “high-level overspending.” Results of the second audit will provide specific line items that were deemed wasteful by the state’s auditors.
Manatee County released a statement following the press conference that read in part, “Our team has supplied all requested information promptly and in good faith and has maintained regular communication with state officials, even meeting with the DOGE team yesterday in Tallahassee. We were not previously aware of the details released by the Chief Financial Officer during his news conference October 16, 2025, but we welcome the opportunity to review the findings and better understand the analysis.”
Information Outreach Manager Bill Logan noted that the Manatee County Government Efficiency Liaison Committee would update commissioners on its findings at the next commission meeting scheduled for Oct. 21.
The public is also invited to attend the committee’s next meeting on Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. in the Manatee Room at the Manatee County Administration Building.
Expanding at an ‘unprecedented rate’
During the press conference, Ingoglia didn’t cite any major examples of “wasteful” spending outside of the county staff itself.
Ingoglia noted that Manatee County’s population increased by 61,545 residents over the past five years, while the county staff increased by 472 full-time employees.
“This is why the budget has gotten away from (commissioners),” he said. “They’re hiring librarians, administrators, clerks, and expanding government at a rate that is probably unprecedented in this area.”
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia holds a press conference in Manatee County Oct. 16.
Courtesy image
McCann called the assessment “accurate.”
“The county doesn’t need this many people,” he said. “Taxes should go down, not up, with more people to pay in.”
Bearden argued both sides. On one hand, he said if there are 10 emergency operators and over 12,000 more residents a year later, then 10 operators might not be enough to service everyone.
But Ingoglia mentioned “administrators,” and Bearden voted not to hire Corey Stutte in June after Evan Pilachowski resigned from one of three deputy county administrator positions.
Bearden’s decision had nothing to do with Stutte or his qualifications for the role.
Bearden had concerns that the appointment was slid through by staff members at a time when commissioners were expressing concerns that a third deputy county administrator might not be necessary.
McCann not only shared Bearden’s concerns; he had proposed a hiring freeze two weeks earlier. “Critical roles required for Public Safety, emergency response and essential county operations” were excluded from his proposal.
Nicole Knapp, director of Development Services, asked McCann to remove the item from the June 3 agenda.
“The tail is wagging the dog,” McCann said. “You’ve got the staff telling the commission what to do because they were used to that for many years. Now, they’re being questioned, and they don’t like it.”
McCann cited two departments that he said would be better off hiring outside contractors over employees — stormwater maintenance and the county attorney’s office.
He added that if the county kept an outside law firm on retainer, such as GrayRobinson, the move would also eliminate the need for a Government Relations department because GrayRobinson provides lobbying services, too.
McCann said the county only needs one county attorney and one land use attorney, not an entire law firm that includes multiple attorneys, paralegals and receptionists.
He shares that same sentiment when it comes to county administration, which he has repeatedly called “top heavy.”
Currently, the county administrator is Charlie Bishop, and the three deputy county administrators are Courtney De Pol, Bryan Parnell and Corey Stutte.
All three deputy county administrators earn nearly $200,000 a year, and McCann maintains that three are unnecessary. He said there should only be one county administrator and one deputy county administrator to fill in as needed.
As far as the county’s stormwater system, he argued that outside contractors with specialized equipment could come in once a year to “do it right.”
“The truth is that there’s a lot of mismanagement right now,” McCann said. “We didn’t need to buy that second building if we didn’t hire all those people.”
In May, commissioners voted unanimously to purchase a second administration building in Lakewood Ranch. The approximately 100,000-square-foot building will house seven departments and about 550 staff members.
McCann also pointed to the amount of membership dues the county pays to organizations, such as the National Association of Counties and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, as another waste of taxpayer dollars.
The county pays $12,500 a year to maintain a presidential level membership with the LWRBA.
“At first, I thought this was a revenge tour,” McCann said of the recent clash between the state and Manatee County over Senate Bill 180. “It’s not. (Ingoglia) pointed out some very good things.”