Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia blasted Nassau County government for excessive spending this week, becoming the latest municipal government in the cross hairs of his self-proclaimed government watchdog crusade.
Ingoglia has already ripped about a dozen county and municipal governments in the past year for what he says is “excessive and wasteful spending.” He held a news conference Wednesday in Fernandina Beach, the county seat of Nassau County in Northeast Florida. He unloaded on the county’s handling of budgetary issues and claimed county government officials had excessively spent more than $53 million.
“Taxpayers throughout Florida are tired of their locally elected officials wasting their hard-earned money on government bloat. The amount of excessive, wasteful spending in Nassau County announced (Wednesday) is yet another example that the growth in government is wasteful in itself,” Ingoglia said.
“As CFO, I will keep bringing transparency to Floridians and holding local governments accountable for overtaxing their citizens. With each review of local governments, we are proving that real tax relief is not only possible but necessary.”
Ingoglia said Nassau County’s general fund budget skyrocketed in the past half decade, climbing by $96.2 million since the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Meanwhile, Nassau County’s population has grown “only” by 16,597 people, Ingoglia lamented.
“For every new citizen that moved to Nassau County, the budget increased by $5,797 and for a family of four, the budget increased by $23,188,” he said.
Ingoglia said he has “revealed” more than $1.9 billion in excessive spending among about a dozen municipalities in fiscal year 2024-2025 alone.
Ingoglia is calling on the Legislature to increase budget control stipulations and he has repeatedly said he’d like to see a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot to reel in local government spending.
