Florida’s Manatee County Marks Start Point for Governor DeSantis’ Local Budget Oversight

The State Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has highlighted Manatee County as a focal point in his endeavor to enforce state oversight and possibly compulsory budget trims on statewide local governments. During a press briefing in Bradenton, DeSantis advertised his advanced state capacity to review local government expenditures as an element of his mission to diminish local property tax burdens on the citizens of Florida.

Emphasizing his initiative, DeSantis specified that his start point would be local administrations like Manatee County, willing to collaborate with state officials on the evaluation process. He further expanded that his team is actively searching for lawful measures to push audits on local governments that show resistance to the initiative.

Mention was also made of similar undertakings within state organizations and educational institutions in Florida. DeSantis has instituted the Florida State Department of Government Efficiency via an executive order, assigning the task force to cut back on government spending by conducting audits on local administrations, colleges, and universities.

In order to extend the authority of the Florida State Department of Government Efficiency, DeSantis coordinated with legislative leaders to approve this executive power into the budget for this year. This would allow it to execute checks and supervision of local governments.

The interim state Chief Financial Officer, Blaise Ingoglia, recently appointed by DeSantis, will spearhead these initiatives. The law puts his Office of Policy and Budget in a position to scrutinize spending of any local government for the past two years.

The focus will be specifically on expenditure related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, overspending, malpractices, or fraudulent activities, along with duplicate or redundant expenses. Upon request, local governments are obligated to offer access to their personnel and budget specialists, physical premises, and data systems within a week or face the risk of a $1,000 per day fine for every individual request they fail to comply with.

Manatee County received words of praise from DeSantis for reducing its rate of property tax over recent times. However, he voiced concerns over the increased county spendings. Stating facts, DeSantis said the county’s tax income has soared by 86% during the last six fiscal years, translating to an increase in property tax earnings of $213 million.

Simultaneously, the population growth has only seen an approximate rise of 14%. The governor took to criticising the excess reserve amounts Manatee County was holding onto, which he estimated to be around $734 million.

Accusations were made by DeSantis against local governments over exploiting the surge in property values to collect additional taxes from residents, instead of reducing the tax rate.

Manatee County Commissioner Carol Felts, in her first year, stated to the Herald-Tribune that the county board is all prepared to heed the call for a more economically toned budget. To alleviate the tax strain on local inhabitants, the board has also recently voted in favor of amplifying impact fees on new developments.

As per records, last year’s property tax collection by counties, cities, school boards, and special districts of Florida exceeded $55 billion. This figure is more than a twofold jump from the amounts collected in 2014. The current amount is also 46% more than what was accumulated across the state only four years back.

While the increase in local expenditure has been subject to criticism by state Republican leaders, local authorities attribute essential services like law enforcement and fire protection as factors contributing to the rising costs.