Below is an official statement from the Florida Department of Financial Services regarding a recent audit of Nassau County’s budget.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Blaise Ingoglia announced that Nassau County is excessively spending more than $53 million. The county has increased their budget over the past five years by over 96 percent while the population has only increased by 18 percent. CFO Ingoglia is calling on Nassau County officials to provide the tax relief that residents deserve.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said, “Taxpayers throughout Florida are tired of their locally elected officials wasting their hard-earned money on government bloat. The amount of excessive, wasteful spending in Nassau County announced today is yet another example that the growth in government is wasteful in itself. As CFO, I will keep bringing transparency to Floridians and holding local governments accountable for overtaxing their citizens. With each review of local governments, we are proving that real tax relief is not only possible but necessary. ”
Doug Wheeler, James Madison Institute said, “A serious review of property taxes is far overdue. Irresponsible local spending comes from irresponsible local tax collections. Floridians want accountability, transparency and respect of their taxpayer dollars. The CFO’s methodology is an effective tool to find wasteful spending and we appreciate his work to support Florida citizens.”
Jeff Freese, Owner of Ash Street Cigar Parlor said, “Small business owners like me are reliant on customers having expendable income to spend at our businesses. Rising property taxes have a cascading negative effect on businesses, our employees, and small business owners. We just want to make a fair living and have a conduit to be heard as voting citizens. Thank you, CFO Ingoglia, for your commitment to supporting taxpayers.”
The Nassau County General Fund Budget has increased by $96,206,198 since Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-2020. However, only 16,597 residents have moved to the county during the same span of time. For every new citizen that moved to Nassau County, the budget increased by $5,797 and for a family of four, the budget increased by $23,188.
The Florida Agency of Fiscal Oversight (FAFO) recommends that Nassau County can lower their millage rate by 0.95 mills without interfering with essential services provided to constituents. If the county applied this reduction, homeowners could save:
- A taxable home value of $400,000 would save $380 per year
- A taxable home value of $500,000 would save $475 per year
- A taxable home value of $600,000 would save $570 per year
CFO Ingoglia has revealed over $1.9 billion in excessive, wasteful spending in the General Fund Budget for FY 2024-2025 across twelve local governments. CFO Ingoglia plans to continue to expose excessive, wasteful spending across the state as part of his role as Chief Financial Officer of Florida.
