JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s Chief Financial Officer visited Jacksonville on Wednesday and made a big claim, saying the city has overtaxed its residents by more than $200 million over the past five years.
During the Wednesday news conference, CFO Blaise Ingoglia presented the results of an audit conducted by his office, which evaluated the city’s 2019-2020 fiscal year budget through the 2024-2025 budget.
Recommended Videos
The data included was pulled from three years under Republican Mayor Lenny Curry and two years under Democratic Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration.
“We went back to that year, and moved forward and indexed that number every year for inflation and population growth,” he explained.
He said the calculations concluded that the city government was “over-taxing and overspending” $199,853,114, but noted that that number could actually be between $230 million and $240 million.
As a solution, Ingoglia recommended the city reduce the millage rate by 1.19 mils and cut property taxes to put money back into the “pockets of taxpayers of Jacksonville who’ve been funding this reckless, loaded budget for at least five years.”
He said the reduction could save taxpayers up to $600 a year.
Mayor Deegan’s office and city council have been at odds about the millage rate, which determines how the city sets property taxes.
Recently, the city leadership was at an impasse, with a split vote over the millage rate.
“We already maintain the lowest property tax rate of any major city in Florida,” Deegan said in a statement in response to Ingoglia. “Our fiscal responsibility is recognized by the leading ratings agencies, and our investments in public safety and infrastructure are creating a high quality of life, which is the reason we have the fastest growing population in Florida.”
Ingolia pointed out that the Jacksonville population increased by 56,605 people over the five years, making the $200 million an unnecessary budget increase.
He said for every 88 people who moved to the city, Jacksonville added one new government employee, a pace he called unsustainable.
He also noted that city salaries jumped more than 23% in just four years, outpacing the private sector and state employees.
Deegan also pointed out that Ingolia did not show how he calculated the data, and also said it’s unclear if the numbers included hundreds of police officers added to the streets and the historic 22% raise negotiated for first responders.
She also provided the following context:
- Investments for JSO and JFRD increased by more than $270 million from 2019
- Road surfacing for 840 plus miles more than doubled from $10 million to $26 million
- Emergency reserves increased by $245 million
Ingolia, on the other hand, said that those increases were considered in the analysis.
“We factored everything in. We factored in law enforcement raises. We factored in inflation purchasing,” he said. “We factored in inflation for the purpose of giving people raises to index for inflation. We factored all of that in. Once you factor all of that in, there’s still $200 million too high.”
Ingolia pledged to taxpayers that he would provide a resolution to end the excessive spending trend.
“We are going to get property tax relief done. If it’s not done at the local level, it will be done at the state level with a constitutional amendment,” he said.
Deegan said she is welcome to host Ingoglia’s team for another visit on Thursday to meet with him.
“We have been cooperating with Florida DOGE since day one and will continue to do so as they develop their recommendations,” Deegan said.
Read the mayor’s entire statement below:
In a press conference today, Florida CFO Ingoglia provided analysis that largely ignored the reasons for the growth of Jacksonville’s smart, responsible budget, or the fact that we have a consolidated government which provides both city and county services.
“We already maintain the lowest property tax rate of any major city in Florida,” said Mayor Donna Deegan. “Our fiscal responsibility is recognized by the leading ratings agencies, and our investments in public safety and infrastructure are creating a high quality of life, which is the reason we have the fastest growing population in Florida. 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.”
For additional context on CFO Ingoglia’s press conference, investments for JSO and JFRD increased by more than $270 million from 2019 to today, a well-deserved 36% increase. The annual city investments for road resurfacing our 840+ square miles more than doubled during that time from $10 million to more than $26 million. And our combined operating and emergency reserves increased by $245 million, an 89% increase.
As the State Fire Marshall, the CFO can appreciate why it’s important to hire new firefighters and build new fire stations to cover the largest city by land mass in the contiguous United States. Response times matter. Jacksonville’s top-notch ISO rating saves citizens more than $300 million per year in property insurance costs, which are rising at a much faster rate than property tax bills.
While the CFO spoke many generalities about public safety, without showing the work behind his analysis, it’s unclear if his numbers include the hundreds of police officers added to our streets or the historic 22% raise that this administration negotiated for first responders.
It should be noted that each of the budgets being discussed, which span two mayoral administrations, were passed by super-majority Republican City Councils.
“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 Donna Deegan. “We have been cooperating with Florida DOGE since day one and will continue to do so as they develop their recommendations.”
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan