Orange County mayor says he stands by county spending amid criticism from Florida DOGE

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, a Democrat reportedly considering a run for Florida governor next year, pushed back against allegations of wasteful spending made by Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency task force Wednesday as tensions over government finances edge closer to the boiling point.

“Orange County takes its responsibility to taxpayers seriously, and we stand by the investments we make in our community,” Demings, a former Orlando police chief and Orange County sheriff, told Orlando Weekly in a statement. State DOGE auditors last month claimed (without showing receipts) that they’d identified nearly $200 million in the county budget they consider “excessive, wasteful spending.”

Tensions further escalated at a Jacksonville news conference Wednesday, where Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Gov. Ron DeSantis called out multiple local governments throughout Florida — including but not limited to Alachua County, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Orange County, St. Petersburg and Orlando — that the state’s DOGE task force has been investigating for more evidence of “wasteful” spending.

The city of Jacksonville, for instance, was blasted by Ingoglia for covering the cost of a $75,000 hologram projection of Mayor Donna Deegan at Jacksonville International Airport, created to greet travelers. The city has a multibillion-dollar budget, all in all, and has similarly been accused by DOGE auditors of $199 million in wasteful spending.

“I’m tired of hearing about the hologram,” Jacksonville city councilman Matt Carlucci told NewsJax in a statement. “Frankly, I think it’s a nice idea where our mayor can welcome people to the great City of Jacksonville. When they come up with real solutions, then come see us.”

Florida DOGE, modeled after the federal initiative kickstarted under the Trump administration by tech billionaire Elon Musk, was first created in February through an executive order. The state DOGE effort, currently scheduled to disband in March 2026, has worked in lockstep with Ingoglia, who has made the effort a key part of his campaign to retain his CFO position next year.

Ingoglia has already filed a request for more than $600,000 next fiscal year to establish a “Florida Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Office” (FAFO).

A former state senator from the Republican-leaning Hernando County, Ingoglia has already filed a request with the state for more than $600,000 next fiscal year to permanently establish a new “Florida Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Office” (FAFO) to carry out DOGE’s work.

“Floridians across the state have made it clear that they will no longer tolerate waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Ingoglia said in a statement Wednesday, claiming he’s exposed “nearly $1 billion in wasted taxpayer dollars across just FIVE local governments.”

Alleged examples of “wasteful spending” in Orange County, for instance, include $223,000 for LGBT youth services that “promote gender ideology to youth populations,” according to a news release from the governor’s office. Orange County, which currently has a $8.2 billion budget, also allegedly paid $240,000 to “a left-wing urban planning firm that carries out its activities from a ‘race, social, and healthy equity perspective.’”

The news release from the governor’s office, outlining these examples of “wasteful spending,” do not name the organizations referenced, nor does it explain how or what the DeSantis administration defines as the promotion of “gender ideology” — a term commonly thrown around by right-wing activists to disparage the very concept of gender identity and LGBTQ rights.

A spokesperson for Orange County told Orlando Weekly they are working with their Community and Family Services Division to get more information about the “spending on LGBT youth services” referenced, since the governor’s news release didn’t specify.

“Our budget priorities are guided by the needs of residents and the recommendations of our citizen-led task forces. Supporting youth services and addressing issues of equity are about strengthening families and ensuring all residents have the opportunity to thrive,” Demings defended in his statement, without referencing specific examples of their spending.

The Orlando city government was also called out by Florida DOGE on Wednesday, specifically for allegedly spending $460,000 since 2020 “to count trees as part of the city’s ‘tree inventory’” and $150,000 over three years “to help illegals evade deportation.” (That’s right … “illegals.”) Like Orange County’s case, the allegation did not specify any particular organizations, nor did officials provide receipts for this alleged “wasteful spending.”

“Local governments are crying poor but continue to spend wastefully on things like counting trees,” Ingoglia quipped. “The taxpayers are tired of it, which is why property tax relief is their top concern.”

A city of Orlando spokesperson told Orlando Weekly that the city’s tree inventory program is intended to “properly evaluate, maintain and treat trees for damage and disease.” It’s not funded by property taxes, but rather a combination of state grants, tree removal permits and mitigation fees paid by developers when new construction occurs.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement that he was “proud” of the city’s “fiscal prudence.” The city’s millage rate — a tax rate used to calculate property taxes — hasn’t changed for more than a decade, he added, pointing out that the city invested $406 million into fire and police services last year, compared to the $360 million generated in property tax revenue. “We are committed to listening to our residents and making investments that are responsive to their needs and priorities,” Dyer said.

One of the primary discussion points throughout these DOGE talks and press conferences in recent weeks is property tax rates that have increased in tandem with property values since COVID, and a lot of pointing of fingers between local and state government leaders on who exactly has the authority to address the issue.

Gov. DeSantis, who is term-limited from running for re-election next year, has pitched the idea of abolishing property taxes in Florida — a novel proposal that would need to first be approved by Florida voters through a constitutional amendment.

Property taxes, collected by local governments, are used to fund public services such as public education or schools, police and fire departments, as well as parks and roadways. The Florida Policy Institute, a progressive-leaning research and policy organization, notes that eliminating property taxes could be costly for local communities, significantly reducing funds available for vital public services.

The state of Florida, for its part, agreed to pay $750,000 last fall in a legal settlement over Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, a 2022 law championed (and named) by DeSantis that sought in part to limit workplace training and instruction on diversity, equity and inclusiveness. The state has also potentially wasted more than $200 million on an immigrant detention camp in the Florida Everglades — dubbed Alligator Alcatraz — that is facing an uncertain future due to legal challenges that seek to shut it down.

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