Nearly $279M in Hillsborough's general fund flagged by Florida DOGE Task Force

Florida DOGE audit on Hillsborough County

Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia released some of the initial findings from the series of audits conducted by the state?s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force, which was created to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in local government. Aaron Mesmer reports.

BRANDON, Fla. - Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia released some of the initial findings from the series of audits conducted by the state’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force, which was created to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in local government.

Ingoglia said the DOGE team found nearly $279 million in questionable spending within Hillsborough’s general fund.

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What we know:

Ingoglia said the county’s general fund budget has ballooned by more than 50% since 2019, totaling about $860 million. During the same time, Hillsborough’s population grew by approximately 124,000 people, a figure he argues doesn’t justify the spending spike.

"Hopefully people can see that they’re just using population growth as an excuse to increase the budgets," Ingoglia said. 

He believes cutting a full millage from property taxes is possible and would save homeowners hundreds of dollars a year. 

READ: Pinellas County responds to Florida DOGE letter as on-site audits begin

"The taxpayers of this county should be outraged," he said during a news conference in Brandon on Wednesday.

Hillsborough joins Orange County and Jacksonville as some of the municipalities the state said have budgets filled with excessive spending. Each of those areas was also flagged for more than $200 million in waste. 

Ingoglia said the audit findings support the long-term goal of reducing and possibly eliminating property taxes in Florida.

The backstory:

Last month, CFO Ingoglia and Governor Ron DeSantis launched the DOGE task force as part of a statewide initiative to increase fiscal accountability at the local level. Hillsborough is one of several counties now under audit. 

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While this is the first public release of findings, Ingoglia hinted that more details will be published in full reports over the coming weeks. The numbers released Wednesday, however, lacked any breakdown of which programs or departments were responsible for the alleged overspending.

What they're saying:

Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen said, without specifics, it’s hard to respond.

"It’s very difficult to respond when there were no details given," said Cohen, who pushed back against the idea that the county is overspending, pointing out that 83% of property tax revenue is allocated to public safety and infrastructure.

"If there are examples of things that should be cut, show us what they are," Cohen added. "If four members of the board determine that a change needs to be made, it can be done very, very easily."

What's next:

Ingoglia said the full DOGE report on Hillsborough will be released in the coming weeks, with additional audits underway in other Florida counties. He said voters will ultimately have a say in how their local tax dollars are managed and potentially vote to lower their property taxes in 2026.