Florida’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) team will visit Alachua County’s offices next week after being included in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ list of audited local governments.
DeSantis announced the audits in Gainesville two weeks ago. He’s listed a slate of local governments that will undergo state scrutiny—Broward, Orange, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, along with the cities of Jacksonville and Orlando.
At a meeting on Tuesday, County Manager Michele Lieberman informed the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that the audit would happen. She said county staff met that morning to discuss a plan.
“We have effectively divvied up all the items, and we are diligently preparing to have them here, and so we will be prepared,” Lieberman said.
Commissioner Ken Cornell said that he supports staff on the matter. He said he thinks it’s actually great that an audit will happen.
Commissioner Anna Prizzia jumped in, saying, “It’s not great. This is not great. These are not auditors.”
Cornell responded that he didn’t know about the status of the state employees, but he said the audit is welcome and staff would do fine.
The DOGE team arrived at Gainesville City Hall last week, and Mayor Harvey Ward said the visit disrupted the work of city employees trying to finish budget season. He said some staff worked until 11 p.m. to make up the difference.
Prizzia expressed similar concerns at the meeting.
“I’m just annoyed that they’re wasting staff’s time and energy,” Prizzia said. “I mean, this is a major sink of staff time and resources and are wasting taxpayer dollars, in my opinion.”
DeSantis said the audits will find wasteful spending. The overall goal, he said, is to show citizens that local governments, if they eliminated waste, could cut taxes while still funding education, public safety and other essential services.
DeSantis pointed to the state as an example, with the last three budgets stepping down in size. He said property tax reform is planned for the 2026 election.
In a statement to Mainstreet, the county said it will be ready for the audit.
“We pride ourselves on transparency and openness whether it is a resident asking for information or in this case the State,” the statement said.
In the state’s Aug. 1 letter, the DOGE team asks for responses to 51 informational requests with some subcategories. The requests include the following topics: homeless services, transportation, grants, Green New Deal, personnel compensation and diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
In the letter, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who is leading the audits, said Alachua County has increased the property tax burden on citizens and raised its annual budgeted spending in the general fund by over $80 million.
Alachua County taxes
- 2022
- Property tax income: $139 million
- MSTU tax income: $24 million
- 2023
- Property tax income: $150 million
- MSTU tax income: $27 million
- 2024
- Property tax income: $165 million
- MSTU tax income: $29 million
- 2025
- Property tax income: $177 million
- MSTU tax income: $32 million
- Proposed 2026
- Property tax income: $180 million
- MSTU income: $34 million
Hey DOGE: While researching grants, do not forget to look at Working Foods, Anna Prizzia’s woke conflict of interest grant recipient that has one of the most dismal returns on the money of any program you will see. Pure waste.
Then you can look at the county giving $31 million to bankrupt Celebration Pointe, the World Masters scam, and the whole West End deal. You want to find waste and fraud of tax money? Celebration Pointe is a good place to start, IMO.
Don’t forget about the 1.3 million for Alachua County employees fleet cameras plus a monthly service fees paid on each vehicle.
Don’t forget the 3 commercial hotels purchased by Alachua County and removed from the tax’s rolls.
Also most of the Alachua County salary employees still work from home.