JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — $200 million — That’s how much Florida’s Chief Financial Officer claimed could be cut from the City of Jacksonville’s $2 billion general fund budget to save homeowners hundreds on their property taxes.
The call comes less than a week before the final vote on the proposed city budget.
“Your property taxes have been going up not because essential services are expanding, but because of excessful waste in government,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.
Since 2019, Ingoglia calculated that the city’s budget has ballooned by $692 million, which represents an increase of more than 50 percent.
Meanwhile, the city has added only 56,605 new residents, according to Ingoglia.
Over the past four years, he said city employees have seen their salaries increase 23.5% on average and one new government employee has been added for every 88 new residents.
Based on his office’s math, he argued the city could slash $200 million from the budget without impacting city services.
It would represent a 1.19 mill reduction, which would save homeowners with property valued at $400,000 $477 a year.
“Here’s the problem: to governments, this is a game. They’ll go in, they see this extra money and they try to build out government so it makes it harder to cut later,” said Ingoglia.
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While Ingoglia said police and fire salary increases, inflation and population growth were factored into his calculations, the mayor’s office pushed back on his suggestion that budget increases are the result of “wasteful” spending.
The mayor’s office highlighted that Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Fire Rescue budgets have grown by $270 million since 2019 and the annual cost of road resurfacing has more than doubled from $10 million to $26 million over the same time period.
City Council is currently debating a 1/8th mill reduction, which would only cut spending by $13 million and save homeowners about a dollar a month.
In a statement, Mayor Donna Deegan continued to call for the millage rate to stay the same.
“Our police and fire unions, business community, and working families across the city all agree that Jacksonville’s millage rate should remain where it is, so that we can continue to invest in our people,” said Deegan.
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Councilmember Ron Salem (R-Group 2 At-Large) is one of those backing the $13 million cut.
While he says he agrees with the CFO’s message, he doesn’t think it’s feasible to implement the cuts Ingoglia is pushing all at once, especially with the final budget vote set for Tuesday.
“It’s hard to pull out $100 million at one time, but I’ve cut taxes before, the last year of the Curry Administration. I intend to cut taxes Tuesday night and I hope before I leave the council we do it again,” said Salem.
Ingoglia suggested cities could cover the cuts by dipping into reserves, which is a move Salem and other council members have tried to avoid in recent years.
The CFO also stopped short of naming specific spending he considered wasteful.
When asked whether the $775 million city-share of the stadium renovation constituted wasteful spending, Ingoglia argued that’s a policy decision up to city leaders to work out.
“I’m not here to tell them exactly what to cut. I’m here to go over just how excessive and wasteful the budget has become,” said Ingoglia.
A specific breakdown of spending considered wasteful is expected to be detailed in the State DOGE team’s final report, which is still likely a month away.
The mayor’s office did note the state DOGE team will be back for another on-site visit Thursday.
“We look forward to hosting CFO Ingoglia’s team for another site visit on Thursday and I reiterate my standing offer to meet with him,” said Mayor Deegan in an emailed statement. “We have been cooperating with Florida DOGE since day one and will continue to do so as they develop their recommendations.”
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