FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Auditors with the state Department of Government Efficiency will be zeroing in on Broward County spending, Gov. Ron DeSantis and newly-appointed state Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday morning.
The two believe county officials are misusing taxpayer dollars.
“Broward County, unfortunately, is probably, in my mind, one of the worst offenders when it comes to spending,” Ingoglia said.
Beginning July 31, auditors from various state agencies will examine financial records and data systems. Non-compliant local governments could face fines of at least $1,000 per day.
“We don’t have to ask, ‘Mother, may I?’, we can just simply say you must comply under the law,” DeSantis said.
While DeSantis claimed Broward County is overspending, he provided few details about where those claims are coming from, simply chalking them up to “taxpayers.”
Broward Commissioner Steve Geller said the county is fiscally responsible and he has the numbers to prove it, calling DeSantis’ actions political.
“We are a law abiding county in Broward County, we comply with all laws of the state, we comply with all valid executive orders,” Geller said. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that he’s only gone after two bright blue counties. What other reason could there be?”
Geller said numbers are filed with the state yearly and explained where most of the spending comes from.
“That’s where the massive increase has been, the airport and the sea port, which don’t get basically a penny of property tax, they raise the money and they spend the money only at the airport and at the seaport.”
Broward Mayor Beam Furr said on “This Week in South Florida” in May, prior to the announcement, that he’s seen this coming for months.
He said he was aware the governor was name-checking Broward County and added that the allegations simply aren’t true.
“If you actually looked at our population growth plus inflation rate, we’re exactly right there, right on, almost exactly on the (nose), but then you add that extra transportation surtax, it does look like revenue, but that’s revenue that voters voted for (for infrastructure),” Furr told Local 10’s Glenna Milberg.
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