Politics

Blaise Ingoglia says Miami exceeds appropriate spending by $94M per year, calls budget bulge worst in state

Published

2 months ago

October 23, 2025

Miami isn’t alone in having an overspending problem, but it’s by far the worst example among local governments that Florida is auditing under its DOGE initiative, CFO Blaise Ingoglia says.

At an afternoon press conference in the “Magic City,” Ingoglia said that even after accounting for factors often cited in explaining bloating budgets — from inflation, population growth and money for more first responders to raises for law enforcement and general government employees — Miami “blew past” the appropriate spending number by $94 million.

“If this was a business, the city of Miami would go bankrupt,” he said. “This is money that should be back in the hands of the taxpayer and not in the hands of a government bureaucrat.”

Holding up posters displaying charts and figures in front of a room full of government, media and business attendees, Ingoglia went over what he called damning numbers.

Between 2019 and 2024, he said, Miami’s general fund budget ballooned by 44%, a $358 million uptick in five years.

“That’s more than double what we’re seeing (elsewhere),” he said. “Honestly, we had to go back through these numbers three, four, five times to make sure it’s right.”

Over those five years, Miami added 193 full-time employees — some first responders, but many in bureaucratic posts — as its population grew by just 23,000 residents. Every time someone moves to Miami, Ingoglia said, the city’s budget grows by $15,320.

Notably, Miami’s per-year budget breakdowns show a general fund of $763 million in 2019 and a general fund of $1.043 million in 2024 — a $280 million difference.

Ingoglia said he chose 2019 as a comparison date because it was the last normal year before COVID upended normal spending and budget metrics. Miami’s City Manager that year was Emilio González, who is running for Mayor with an endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis, with whom Ingoglia is closely allied. The following year, current City Manager Art Noriega took over.

Asked if the Department of Financial Services and DOGE would release its numbers to the public, Ingoglia said yes. He said local governments will no doubt try to mislead voters, but that it’s all subterfuge.

“They are going to cry. They are going to do everything they can to convince you, the taxpayer, that they need every single dollar,” he said. “(Miami) could have given all that money back to the taxpayers. But they chose not to. They chose to spend it. The taxpayers could have received a 0.05-mil reduction in their property taxes and not even have skipped a beat.”

Inspired by an identically named federal initiative launched under billionaire Elon Musk, DeSantis rolled out the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Task Force in February to slash state and local budgets and make government as “lean and efficient as possible.”

In the months that followed and under Ingoglia, a former Senator whom DeSantis tapped as Chief Financial Officer in July, the DOGE effort set its auditing sights on many local governments, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough and Orange counties, and cities like Miami, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg and Melbourne.

By Thursday’s press conference, Ingoglia said, DOGE has uncovered “more than $1.1 billion in wasteful, excessive spending” in this year alone across just eight localities. That’s after considering inflation, population growth, pay raises and other variables.

He likened the current overspending he says is rampant in Florida to a shift seen across the U.S. in the mid-2010s, when rising property values led to increased property tax revenue and, in turn, expanded governments that frequently mismanaged the extra funds it received.

It led to a “property tax revolt” in Florida, he continued, which ultimately resulted in the establishment of a second $25,000 homestead property tax exemption. But because of the way the exemption was designed, combined with soaring property values over the past decade, the tax exemption program that once relieved homeowners of as much as 33% of their property’s taxable value now covers about 9%.

Ingoglia opened the press conference by discussing not Miami’s alleged overspending but the general issue of property taxation — a priority shared by DeSantis and leaders in the Legislature ahead of the 2026 Session.

In February, the Governor called for higher homestead tax exemption levels and Ingoglia sprang into action, filing a pair of companion measures to raise the limit to $75,000. Neither bill was heard.

DeSantis has said he’d be open to wiping out property taxes altogether, something Ocala Republican Rep. Ryan Chamberlin proposed last year.

After the end of the Legislature’s protracted 2025 Session, House Speaker Daniel Perez — a Miami resident — assembled a Select Committee on Property Taxes to delve into the matter and produce actionable recommendations for delivering homeowners relief. The result came last week: a package of eight joint resolutions that would go directly to voters for approval if passed in the Legislature next year.

Chamberlin contemporaneously and separately filed the first of what he said is a three-bill package to roll back current property tax levels to 2022-23 levels.

DeSantis derided the House proposals on Wednesday as being part of a “political game” Perez, whom he’s frequently clashed with since Perez took the gavel late last year, is playing.

“Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes,” the Governor said on X.

Perez fired back Thursday, noting that despite DeSantis’ stated support of delivering tax relief to Floridians, he “has not produced a plan” to do so and isn’t willing “to engage in a conversation” with House leadership to get it done.

“So when the Governor says he wants to ‘abolish’ property taxes. How? We don’t have any details,” he said. “We offered multiple proposals in good faith because it is unclear to us what — if anything — any other party is willing to do.”

Something needs to be done, said Americans for Prosperity Florida Strategic Director Rachel Moscoco, Ingoglia’s guest speaker at the Miami press conference.

“Property taxes are making it harder to live, work and thrive in the Sunshine State,” she said. “That’s why these audits matter … because informed citizens are empowered citizens. Let’s be bold, let’s be principled, and let’s be relentless in our pursuit of a Florida where home ownership is secure, government is lean and taxpayers are respected.”

A September report by the Florida Policy Institute found that eliminating property taxes statewide — the second-largest source of per capita revenue after federal transfers — would create a more than $50 billion budget hole for local governments. Ending property taxes only for homesteaded properties would result in a $18.5 billion reduction in county, municipal and district coffers.

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Politics

As Gov. DeSantis’ Florida explores AI checks, Donald Trump promises preemption

Published

10 minutes ago

December 8, 2025

May Greene

President Donald Trump is poised to set federal guidance for artificial intelligence that could preclude regulations that states like Florida and Governors like Ron DeSantis might want to enact.

“There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI. We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won’t last long if we are going to have 50 States, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS,” Trump posted to Truth Social.

“THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS! AI WILL BE DESTROYED IN ITS INFANCY! I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something. THAT WILL NEVER WORK.”

The President’s comments come as the Florida House prepares to begin a week of committee meetings addressing AI, and after DeSantis has spent months fretting about the impacts of the technological inevitability and teasing statewide regulations to address it.

The House is holding meetings starting Tuesday revolving around what Speaker Daniel Perez calls “the potentially positive and negative impacts of the use of AI in their respective jurisdictions.”

The House Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee will tackle utility costs related to data centers. The House Careers & Workforce Subcommittee plans to explore “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work: Opportunities, Challenges, and Workforce Readiness.” And the House Information Technology Budget & Policy Subcommittee will examine “Examples of artificial intelligence use in state agencies and options for the future.”

Meanwhile, DeSantis is prioritizing a so-called “AI Bill of Rights” that is designed to counter what he calls an “age of darkness and deceit.”

Exploitative depictions concern the Governor. He said he wants the law to “do things like fortify some of the protections we have in place for things like deepfakes and use of explicit material, particularly those that depict minors.”

Foreign control also worries him.

DeSantis vows not to “allow any state or local government agency to utilize Chinese-created AI tools when they’re doing data here in the state of Florida.”

Other proposed protections include ensuring “that data inputted into AI is secure and private.”

Additionally, people dealing with insurance companies may have recourse against claims being determined by AI rather than humans, and lawyers’ clients could be protected from the technology being used to write briefs and filings.

DeSantis also wants the legislation to rein in data centers by capping utility rates that could be driven up by them, banning subsidies to build them, prohibiting them in agriculturally-zoned areas, issuing statewide noise regulations, and embracing the oft-trampled concept of home rule to allow local jurisdictions to ban them.

He also expects emergent legislation to “provide more parental rights … to ensure parents can access conversations their child has with one of these LLM (large language model) chatbots. Parents will be able to set parameters from when the child can access any of these platforms, and there will be notifications for parents required if the child exhibits concerning behavior.”

DeSantis has decried overstretched stock market valuations for “Mag 7” companies Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, all of which are in the AI space. He has also suggested the “Founding Fathers” would hate the technology, and argued it will be used to perpetuate fraud.

Despite these qualms, Trump will move forward.

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Politics

UF commits to ‘neutrality,’ institutionally

Published

41 minutes ago

December 8, 2025

May Greene

The University of Florida will not be taken over for ideological purposes, its interim President declared.

Interim President Donald Landry and UF Trustees expressed a commitment during a board meeting to “institutional neutrality” regarding how university actors will behave.

“We are not protecting the right to choose topics for classroom instruction, research, or scholarship if that right is not coupled with institutional neutrality,” Landry said.

“We have to provide protections for free expression, but we are not going to be able to engage in that protection if we have leadership speaking on issues that then create those aligned with leadership and those opposed to leadership. At that moment, those who are opposed to leadership are now afraid to speak, they don’t know if it’s safe.”

Trustees unanimously supported a policy that applies to university employees with access to communications resources used for “university business,” including email distribution lists, university websites, social media accounts, and teleconference systems.

“University business” encompasses “instructional activities, research and scholarship, administrative functions, communications,” and lobbying. Also: “Guidance regarding or requiring compliance with laws, regulations or policies.”

“Proclamations from UF institutional and unit leadership on issues that polarize society impair the free and open exchange of differing ideas on campus as it divides the student body and faculty into those aligned with leadership and those opposed,” the new policy says, in part.

The policy, according to its language, “clarifies expectations regarding (1) leadership commentary and proclamations on Social Issues; (2) the use of communication resources for personal expression; and (3) representations of affiliations.”

“When our leaders make comment or proclamations on social issues, political issues, normative issues, current events to their university constituents, these statements divide our faculty and students, chill free expression for those who do not agree with leadership, and send a signal that suddenly there’s no room for open discourse or the contest of ideas at the University of Florida,” Landry said.

Landry said he met with deans at the school about the neutrality statement.

“We resist ideological takeover of any unit of the university, we reject ideological indoctrination in favor of open discourse, we accomplish that at this university and in this state mainly through the right of the students to record any lecture,” Landry said.

The policy allows “political or social advocacy” as long as it’s not represented as UF policy, protecting “personal expression in their private capacities.”

Violation of the policy could result in termination.

“What we’re going to accomplish today is the voluntary restraint of leadership not to speak. If speech must come forth, it will come forth from the president in consultation with the chair, but otherwise we will remain silent,” Landry said.

Earlier in the meeting, Landry laid out his vision for the university. He holds the position while the university searches for a President. The search started Friday, and Chair Mori Hosseini said Landry signaled he will apply for the permanent position.

“This is a state where individuals can come confident that they will be able to learn, confident that their education will not be disrupted. It is a state where faculty can come, knowing they will be able to teach, they will be able to do research, they will be able to do their scholarship. That stability is priceless. That’s a firm foundation for a vision of preeminence and leadership,” Landry said.

The DeSantis administration’s political involvement in higher education led various professors to express their desire to leave the state, the Phoenix reported earlier this year.

Landry spent much of his time outlining his vision for the university, talking about expanding and supporting artificial intelligence research.

Hosseini, a major donor to Gov. Ron DeSantis, will serve another term as Chair of the state’s flagship university; the Trustees unanimously voted Friday to keep Hosseini in charge for another two years.

Hosseini has served on the UF Board since 2016 and before that he served on the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees public universities, on which he also was Chair.

Notably, Hosseini stood behind the UF Trustees’ support for Santa Ono, even after the state Board of Governors rejected him to be the leader of the university. Prominent Republicans came out in opposition to the former University of Michigan President after he abandoned his previous support for diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that are anathema to the MAGA movement.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that, in the modern era, I don’t think anybody has had as much influence on the trajectory of the University of Florida than you. From inspiring and challenging our leadership, to leveraging your relationships in Tallahassee for the benefit of our institution, the impact of your work is visible to all of us, every day,” Board Vice Chair Rahul Patel told Hosseini.

The Board also voted to keep Patel as the Board’s Vice Chair.

___

Reporting by Jay Waagmeester. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

The post UF commits to ‘neutrality,’ institutionally appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..

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Politics

Dan Newlin prepares to become Ambassador to Colombia amid high tension with Latin American nation

Published

4 hours ago

December 8, 2025

May Greene

Orlando lawyer Dan Newlin has yet to be confirmed as President Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Colombia. But he said it’s a financial issue, not political resistance, slowing the process.

The Windermere Republican told Florida Politics shortly after a panel discussion in Washington that it has been a lengthy process cutting financial ties with the Orlando area law firm he has run for nearly a quarter century.

Newlin called the process “highly complex.”

“Once that’s completed, hopefully in 2026, early part of 2026, then I will be cleared to move through government ethics to the next phase. So really, that was my big holdup.”

He spoke at the Rescuing the American Dream summit on a panel moderated by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, where Newlin discussed Trump’s foreign policy in South America. The former Sheriff’s Deputy suggested controlling the drug trade will be a huge focus for the U.S. in terms of any relationship with Colombia.

He said the number of plant-growing operations fueling the cocaine market has doubled in the last four years, particularly since Colombian President Gustavo Petro came into power in 2022. Meanwhile, drug cartels like the Northern Liberation Army, or ELN, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, doubled in size to 250,000 active members.

“President Trump and Senator Scott are firm believers in taking it to the drug dealers, but taking it to the drug manufacturers who are bringing it to the U.S. is so important,” he said.

He and other diplomats defended controversial bombings of alleged drug trafficking vessels for that reason at the conference.

But that and several caustic statements by Petro at the United Nations have made the diplomatic situation more dicey each day as Newlin awaits confirmation. And considering the strong ties between Florida and Colombia — Newlin himself has owned a home in the South American nation for 16 years — the interactions could have significant consequences for the Sunshine State.

“Many Colombians live here — great people, amazing people. I think one of the biggest challenges in the economic recovery from what’s happened there for the last four years, it’s been very difficult on the people with, respectfully, the leadership that’s in place now,” Newlin said regarding the Petro era.

“There’s a lot of economic opportunity that needs to be worked through. Hopefully with President Trump’s commitment to South America, to the Western Hemisphere, we can get more contracts and we can get more people, and we can help the people of Colombia rise up from the oppression that they lived under. No one should have to make $300 or $400 a month working at a Starbucks in Colombia when a worker in the United States makes $4,000 a month.”

Can that work happen with Petro in charge? Newlin notes that there will be an election in Colombia in May. All the candidates in the running to succeed Petro have economic growth on their agenda, Newlin said. He has met with all of them, along with U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican. “All the presidential hopefuls really put economic recovery as one of their No. 1 agendas,” Newlin said.

Trump, unlike many U.S. Presidents, has weighed in openly on Latin American elections at points, most recently endorsing Nasry Asfura in a Honduras Presidential Election still being tabulated. Will the administration pick a favorite in Colombia?

Newlin said that’s not for him to say.

“I certainly think that President Trump has a good grip and read on who he believes will be the best candidates,” Newlin said. “That’s pretty much all I have to say about that.”

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