PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida CFO's office released a 99-page report this week, criticizing the spending of local governments by saying there is an "absence of budgetary discipline."
This comes after WPTV reported this month that Palm Beach County Administrator Joe Abruzzo demanded proof from Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia following accusations the county wastefully spent $344 million, calling the claims irresponsible.
According to the DOGE report released this week, the reviews identified broad themes in local government spending growth and a wide array of what the state calls "inefficient or excessive spending."
The report said that Florida DOGE teams, comprised of staff from multiple state agencies, have conducted on-site reviews or initiated formal examinations in multiple jurisdictions, including the following:
- Palm Beach County
- Broward County
- Alachua County
- Hillsborough County
- Manatee County
- Orange County
- Pinellas County
- City of Gainesville
- City of Jacksonville
- City of Orlando
- City of Pensacola
- City of St. Petersburg
"In contrast to spending restraint at the state level, Florida's local government spending has soared over the past few years from already-high levels, fueled by the ready availability of ad valorem tax dollars from Florida's rising property values," the report said.
DEI programs and training were a common target in the report, showing up on 47 of the 99 pages.
It said that local governments may be violating state and federal law by spending taxpayer money on DEI programs, despite Gov. Ron DeSantis' efforts to eliminate them.
"Since 2019, Palm Beach County has spent at least $151,000 on DEI training across various county departments (the County reported the cost of many trainings to DOGE as 'unknown'), including on subjects such as how some employees are "responsible for racism" and "Living While Black," the report stated.
However, the study did say that Abruzzo is reorganizing to eliminate the Office of Resilience, after the county previously sought to "infuse all its strategies with a racial equity lens."
The DOGE report also cited Palm Beach County using $16 million on the homeless population since the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
"(This spending) has incentivized an increase, not a decrease, in homeless population, from 1,500 in 2020 to over 2,000 in 2024," according to the report.
In addition, the report attacked cities and counties for their efforts to combat climate change, saying large amounts of taxpayer money have been "squandered" to fight a "so-called climate change emergency."
Florida's DOGE authority sunsets July 1.
READ THE 99-PAGE DOGE REPORT BELOW:
Read more of WPTV's coverage of DOGE in Palm Beach County:
Money
$344M overspending claim 'not transparent,' county administrator says
Palm Beach County
DOGE audits of local governments 'are not going to go away,' Florida CFO says
WPTV Investigates
