JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayor Donna Deegan spoke to the media after the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) arrived in Jacksonville to audit the city for what the agency calls “excessive government spending.”
The auditors are expected to be in the city for two days.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia told Jacksonville media that auditors are on site looking for wasteful spending.
“We are looking for some of the things that they should not be spending on, things that they should not be spending on, things that if taxpayers knew that they were being charged for in property tax relief,” Ingoglia said.
In a letter last week, Florida DOGE cited rising property values and growing annual property tax collections as the primary reasons it would be making its way to Jacksonville to “identify and report on excessive spending at the city and county level.”
“They’re going to come out with the parade of horribles and saying that we can’t cut property taxes, we can’t cut spending because of this reason or that,” Ingoglia said.
The Florida CFO also alleged that there are some local governments in the state that are trying to hinder Florida DOGE’s auditors, but he didn’t accuse Jacksonville’s government of doing that.
“I’m not at liberty to say right now, but we are investigating that. We have heard from multiple sources that this is happening,” Ingoglia said. “...With the sole purpose of scrubbing the information from public record as we start looking for some of the things that are outlined in our DOGE letters so specifically getting rid of certain keywords digitally.”
The mayor’s office sent a statement in response to the allegations made by Ingoglia.
“Regarding the CFO saying some cities were scrubbing documents, he must have meant cities. It’s not true for Jacksonville. We have provided every document they asked for in its unaltered form,” the mayor’s office said.
The state claims that Jacksonville’s property tax collections have increased by $400 million, a 57% jump since 2020, but Duval County Property Appraiser Joyce Morgan told News4JAX that the numbers being used to support that claim haven’t been shared with her office.
“I haven’t received any word from them. Nothing,” Morgan said.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, on the other hand, has heard plenty.
Deegan and Ingoglia have gone back and forth over the last week about the planned visit.
Ingoglia posted a letter to social media, claiming that Jacksonville was among some local governments “trying to place ‘conditions’ and restrictions” on DOGE auditors.
It has come to my attention that some local governments are trying to place “conditions” and restrictions on our investigators doing @DOGEFla audits.
— Blaise Ingoglia (@GovGoneWild) August 4, 2025
Let me be clear: All of the information we are requesting is public information. I will not stand for bureaucratic red tape when… pic.twitter.com/2T6ExaV7Hi
Deegan fired back, insisting that his characterization was a misrepresentation of her office’s intentions. She said her office simply asked state auditors to fill out a one-page form with the names of people needing access to city systems.
Deegan pointed out that the form is a standard security step to help protect Jacksonville’s financial network.
In his letter, Ingoglia insisted the documents would limit the authority of the audit team.
“These types of documents slow and impede the important work of the auditors and are nothing but roadblocks to the transparency that Floridians deserve,” he wrote.
Deegan said Thursday that the city has worked with some of the auditors before, so they were exempt from providing information to them.
She also said the data that they had access to is read-only.
“They can look at whatever they want to look at, it’s read only so they can’t get in there beyond reading it,” Deegan said.
Hours before Florida DOGE arrived, the Jacksonville Finance Committee voted to reduce the millage rate for homeowners.
The full city council will need to review the recommendations regarding the millage rate and budget before signing it into law. Deegan said it was fiscally irresponsible.
“It frankly just doesn’t give any tax relief to speak of,” Deegan said. “It gives people a little more than a buck a month into their pockets and it takes millions of dollars away from what we can spend on roads and sidewalks and potholes, and these are the things that people are telling us they want.”
He added that all of the information he is requesting is public information and that he won’t stand for “bureaucratic red tape when looking for waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.”
In a statement responding to Ingoglia’s social media post, the mayor’s office said that the form it submitted to Florida DOGE auditors simply asks for information on the quantity and names of people who will require access to the city’s financial information during their visit on Thursday and Friday.
Deegan’s statement also noted that her office “respects Florida DOGE’s desire to gain access,” but “asks that they follow our well-established procedures, which are protected under the very state statute that [Ingoglia] cited.”
The full statement can be read below:
We go to great lengths to protect the integrity and safety of our network. As such, we require every external auditor to complete a standard one-page form to request access to our sensitive and sophisticated financial systems. We respect Florida DOGE’s desire to gain access. All we ask is that they follow our well-established procedures, which are protected under the very state statute that they cited. Security should never be politicized.
The City of Jacksonville already conducts self-imposed audits each year on top of what Florida DOGE is mandating, and this is part of the standard process for external auditors to gain access. Chapter 2025(199), Section 124 of Florida law states that Office of Policy and Budget personnel can be granted access to the City’s “data systems and related data, subject to appropriate security considerations."
Last week, Florida DOGE notified the City of Jacksonville about the site visit, and the Mayor’s Office issued this statement about the city’s financial success. Since then, hundreds of staff hours have been spent on short notice in the middle of our annual budget review to prepare.
Office of Mayor Donna Deegan
When the DOGE announcement was first made last week, Deegan released a statement saying the city has been cooperating with Florida DOGE and will continue to do so.
The City of Jacksonville has been cooperating with Florida DOGE since their first request in March and will continue to do so.
They will find that our city finances have been managed responsibly and prudently, which is how we’ve held the number of non-public safety employees flat despite having one of the fastest growing populations in the country and the lowest millage rate by far of any major Florida city. It’s also why the three major ratings agencies have issued a top tier AA+ or AA rating for the second year in a row.
The work to create a more efficient government has been underway since Mayor Deegan’s first day in office. The time it takes for businesses to receive a permit has been cut in half, and more than 284,000 staff hours have been saved through our 904LEAN initiative that drives process improvements.
We welcome any financial evaluation not driven by partisanship or political gamesmanship.
Mayor Donna Deegan's Office
The announcement was applauded by city councilmember Rory Diamond, who said the creation of “Duval DOGE” was just scratching the surface regarding cuts that could be made to the city’s spending.
“This is real cuts, like the governor has been honest about, cutting funding for DEI, cutting funding for illegal aliens, going after totally unnecessary programs. That’s what we need to do. And if it takes someone coming from outside to help us do it. Let’s go,” Diamond said.
Florida DOGE is making its way across Florida. So far, the team has visited Gainesville, Broward County and Orange County.
On Facebook, Diamond alleged that Deegan “laundered $237,000 in DEI funds through the United Way non-profit.”
Deegan denied the claims.
“These are programs that we have funded for a very long time that have nothing to do with DEI,” Deegan said. “They have to do with making sure our most vulnerable citizens have what they need, which in turn helps our quality of life and our public safety. I’m always amazed that people don’t make those connections.”
