Excessive spending by Florida city government

Ingoglia Accuses Jacksonville of Wasteful Spending

A few days after accusing Orange County of excessive spending, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia on Wednesday leveled a similar charge against the city of Jacksonville.

The city is overtaxing citizens by nearly $200 million annually, Ingoglia said. The figure is based on inflation and population growth over the last five years, the CFO said.

The formula also includes filters for government efficiency, or lack of it, Ingoglia said.

“We got to what the budget should be under normal, sane circumstances with people who are somewhat fiscally responsible with their money,” he said. “And they were $200 million over that number. That’s an outstanding number.”

As property values and assessments have increased over the last few years, local governments have benefited from higher property tax receipts.

“Local governments are taking that money and expanding government, paying people within the bureaucracy some pretty big raises and wasting dollar after dollar – your tax dollars,” Ingoglia said.

The city’s general fund budget – paid through property taxes – increased by $692 million over the past five years, he said.

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