JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia claimed excessive spending in Jacksonville continues to spiral during a stop in the city on Monday.
“The question is, did the City of Jacksonville do a better job in the 25/26 year? And the answer is not even close,” said Ingoglia.
Last year, he put excessive spending in Jacksonville at $199 million, but under this year’s budget, he puts the number at nearly $276 million.
He noted the alleged overspending is virtually equal to the $278 million the Florida Association of Counties estimates Jacksonville would lose by the time a $250,000 homestead exemption would kick in under the property tax phaseout plan, which is set to appear on the November ballot.
“The constitutional amendment it’s aggressive. But it needed to be aggressive because the spending, the excessive spending and wasteful spending by local governments has been aggressive as well,” said Ingoglia.
He also questioned the legitimacy of the Association’s claim the city would lose nearly $387 million when factoring in the 5 percent cap on non-homesteaded property assessments.
“They’re going from zero to five, not from 10 to five. So, when you run those numbers it’s really not a loss. It’s just fuzzy math,” said Ingoglia.
Mayor Donna Deegan’s Office responded to Ingoglia’s new numbers, questioning the lack of specifics.
“Once again, the state CFO has swooped into town without any specifics and more numbers pulled out of thin air. It’s another hyper-partisan exercise designed to bully cities and lay the groundwork for passage of a property tax cost shift that will hurt the vast majority of people,” said a spokesperson with the mayor’s office. “Jacksonville is already a low tax city with a lean and efficient budget that delivers the greatest return for our citizens.”
Deegan came out last week in opposition to the property tax phaseout proposal and argued that city services across the spectrum would suffer.
“There are ways we can provide relief to people without cutting out the foundation of the house,” said Deegan.
Ingoglia claimed Deegan’s administration has been responsible for all the excess spending in Jacksonville over the past six years.
Based on city budgets dating back to the 2019/2020 fiscal year, Former Mayor Lenny Curry’s last four budgets increased spending by 14.5 percent overall.
Meanwhile, Mayor Deegan’s past three budgets have increased spending by 37 percent over Curry’s final budget.
“Is it the government’s money or is it the taxpayers’ money? I’m on the side of taxpayers,” said Ingoglia. ”Mayor Deegan can be on the side of big government that just taxes you to the hilt.”
The mayor’s office responded to Ingoglia, putting the blame on Mayor Deegan by pointing out that when he was here last year, he had suggested the spending problem was “a Democrat and a Republican problem”.
“That flip-flop further shows this is a hyper-partisan exercise,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
During that visit in 2025, Ingoglia did however, suggest the Deegan Administration shared the brunt of the blame.
“Looking at the budget numbers for the City of Jacksonville, and going back to the prior administration and current years to the Deegan administration, Deegan’s spending is on steroids,” Ingoglia said during his 2025 visit.
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