Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia during an Oct. 1 press conference at Jacksonville International Airport outlined a list of “wasteful spending” initiatives across the state, including in Gainesville and Alachua County.
Ingoglia specifically pointed out that the city of Gainesville pays its director of equity and inclusion an annual salary of $189,000 — funds he says could be used to help lower property taxes, road repairs or give raises to law enforcement.
Gainesville and Broward County were the first targets in July of the state’s Department of Government Efficiency for on-site audits of city spending records and policies. The DOGE team visited Gainesville on July 31 and Aug. 1
A graphic shared on X by DeSantis on Oct. 1 also listed examples across the state of what the DOGE team found to be “reckless spending and woke initiatives.”
The graphic included the city of Gainesville’s “mandated employee training on identity and culture,” and Alachua County’s use of $31,000 for Planned Parenthood’s “Teen Time” program.
The organization’s “Time For Your Teen” program brings teens between the ages of 13 and 19 and their parents together to talk about things like sexual health, STIs, pregnancy prevention, healthy relationships and decision-making skills.
The DOGE team visited Alachua County Aug. 13-14, and Ingoglia announced on Sept. 25 that it had found more than $80 million in excessive spending in the county’s general fund.
In Jacksonville, DeSantis and Ingoglia poked fun at a hologram-like projection of Mayor Donna Deegan as a case of local government spending out of control.
Ingoglia also cited the city of Pensacola’s installation of a “large neon welcome to Pensacola sign” that he said cost almost $600,000 as he ticked off a list of spending items he criticized in Orlando, Hillsborough County and Palm Beach County.
“Maybe it should say ‘Welcome to Wasteful Spending,'” Ingoglia said of the Pensacola sign.
Deegan issued a statement that said the device called the Proto Box at Jacksonville International Airport is a good investment of city money because it highlights Jacksonville for visitors and supports a local women-owned technology business.
“Mayors greet travelers across the country and use multimedia platforms to promote their cities as tourist destinations,” she said. “This is just a new and innovative way to do that.”
Her office said city staff have put in more than 1,000 hours cooperating with the Florida DOGE team that’s examining spending by local governments, and the value of that staff time is “well above” the $75,000 spent by the city on the Proto Box that represents a tiny amount in the city’s $2 billion budget.
DeSantis and Ingoglia spoke from a podium set up next to the 7-foot tall box that projected video of Deegan while they spoke.
“There she is — Ms. Donna Deegan,” Ingoglia said as he turned to the box. “It’s kind of funny because Donna Deegan — Mayor Deegan — said that this was not an example of wasteful spending.”
He said Deegan’s view is “just a stark example of tone deafness.”
“This is $75,000 of waste, fraud and abuse,” Ingoglia said, adding it’s money the city could have been used to pay for police pay raises or road repaving.
He said local governments have been using a surge in property values to collect property taxes at a pace that far exceeds what would be warranted to keep up with inflation and population growth over a five-year period.
Based on that measuring stick, Ingoglia said the amount of excessive spending totaled $190 million in Orange County, $199 million for Jacksonville, $178 million in Hillsborough County, $84 million in Alachua County and $189 million in Broward County for their most recent budgets.
The specific spending items cited by Ingoglia were far less than those amounts.
He ran down a list that included almost $70,000 for hot yoga classes in Orlando for government employees, nearly half a million dollars in Orlando “to count trees,” millions of dollars in film subsidies in Hillsborough County for “films that actually no one has ever heard of,” and tripling of Palm Beach County’s spending on paratransit service.
“And the list goes on and on and on,” Ingoglia said.
While the airport display was the only specific item cited in Jacksonville, DeSantis said the state’s review of local governments is finding other cases of wasteful spending items.
“I’ve got a whole list that I was looking at yesterday in the office,” DeSantis said. “But I think the overall thing is where were we with these budgets four or five years ago?”
He said if local government leaders can show there would be “a world of hurt” if they had not boosted spending faster than inflation and population growth, “that’s a fair argument to make. But I don’t think a lot of them are making it.”
The spotlighting of the airport display, which Jacksonville City Council member Rory Diamond calls “HolaDonna,” isn’t the first time it’s faced criticism.
“I frankly think you ought to send the damn thing back,” City Council member Ron Salem told the mayor’s Chief of Staff Mike Weinstein in January.
Weinstein told the Finance Committee at the time that the city intends to use the Proto Box in the building inspection office and chose Jacksonville International Airport as the test site to see how the technology works.
The idea behind the Proto Box technology is people can ask questions and the image of the person in the box then provides answers.
The Proto Box installed last December originally featured just video of Deegan greeting travelers. The city has since added other videos of her talking with Jaguars executive Tony Boselli, the Jaguars mascot dancing and Jaguars cheerleaders. The city is working with the aviation authority on what messages to use during the upcoming holiday travel season.
Deegan said Jacksonville-based AnuVision Technologies, which developed the Proto Box, recently presented Jax Tech Fest to help boost Jacksonville as a leading technology hub. AnuVision Technologies bills the Proto Box as a way to bring “CEOs, brand ambassadors, and thought leaders face-to-face with clients like never before” by making them life-sized and lifelike.
“We stand by this Proto Box technology and the women-owned Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business behind it,” Deegan said.
“Instead of being distracted by the constant partisan attacks on local government, our administration will continue the work to make housing, healthcare and food costs more affordable for our citizens,” she said. “I hope that state leaders will do the same.”
DeSantis and Ingoglia said cutting property taxes for homeowners will make it more affordable to buy and own a home.
Any change in state law for property taxes would require approval by voters in a statewide referendum that would not happen until November 2026. DeSantis and state lawmakers still must decide what specifically will go on the ballot.
“I’m focusing on people being able to own their own homes without being squeezed by the property tax,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: DeSantis, CFO Ingoglia cite Gainesville and Alachua County expenditures as wasteful spending
Reporting by David Bauerlein and Alan Festo, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
