DOGE Days in Miami: Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia calls BS on city spending

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But the math ain’t mathing on $94.5 million in bloated budget

Leave it to Tallahassee to come to Miami and tell us we’re spending too much cafecito money.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia — the same Republican pit bull who used to run the state GOP and branded himself with the slogan “Government Gone Wild” — brought his latest traveling roadshow to downtown Miami Thursday to declare that City Hall has gone wild with spending.

Standing in front of a crowd of mostly friendly faces — and at least one mayoral candidate trying not to nod too much — Ingoglia wagged his finger at Miami’s $1.2 billion tax-funded budget, saying it’s “millions too high” based on inflation and population growth. Specifically, $95 million too high. This was a very performative presentation of the first findings of the promised state DOGE audit. That’s the Division of Government Efficiency that models itself after the national one.

Only problem? When reporters asked Ingoglia for the actual math, he said those numbers weren’t available.

So, basically: ‘Trust me, I’m from Tallahassee.’

Read related: Miami, two more Miami-Dade cities may have state DOGE look into books

He did say that if Miami had “kept spending in line” with inflation since 2000, the city would be spending about $95 million less today. But he didn’t say what should be cut — parks? trash pickup? code enforcement? — or how he’d handle the thousands of commuters who use city services every day without paying city taxes.

So, it was really just an invitation-only campaign event for former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who has gotten the endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott and just about anybody on the state’s GOP train. Ladra fully expects Gonzalez — who was sitting in the front row like teacher’s pet, but didn’t speak (he’s too smart for that) — to use the event in campaign literature any day now.

Last month, Gonzalez posted a photo of himself in Tallahassee with Ingoglia, saying DOGE would do a full “deep-dive audit” once he becomes mayor. So, they’re not already doing it? What are they doing now? Just a quick perusal of the budget?

Ingoglia’s stop was really part of a statewide “cut the fat” tour he’s using to push his 2026 full term campaign — and possibly to help bossman DeSantis build support for a constitutional amendment to cap or even eliminate property taxes.

“We’re doing this in an effort for serious property tax reform,” Ingoglia said at the news conference, “including possibly the elimination of homestead property taxes altogether.”

He promised “detailed breakdowns” of wasteful spending “later,” but for now, it was more bark than bite.

When pressed on what “fat” he’d trim, Ingoglia punted, saying the city could afford raises for cops and paramedics if it stopped overspending elsewhere. Sounds great in a press release. Harder to do when you’re paying to keep the lights on and the streets clean for almost 500,000 residents and the thousands of people who work in the city but live elsewhere.

Read related: Miami Downtowners seek state DOGE assistance on tax relief from DDA

City Manager Art Noriega didn’t mince words. “Absurd,” he called it — and “absolutely politically motivated.”

The city fired back with a statement saying the CFO’s analysis was “incomplete,” “shortsighted,” and “unrealistic” for a major urban center that provides regional services.

“As Miami-Dade County’s urban core, the City of Miami serves as the government seat for the majority of city, county, state, and federal agencies. The urban core also houses most of our major corporations and attracts a significant number of visitors each year,” the city said in a statement that sounds a lot like a list of excuses.

“As the primary provider of essential services to those buildings and complex infrastructure, the City maintains primary responsibility for public safety and infrastructure management and operations. The City’s financial and operational stability remains vital to ensuring continued service delivery and sustaining economic vitality for residents, visitors, and the community at large. A formula applied to a suburban or rural city would never reasonably apply to a city that inherently is as complex and unique as the City of Miami.”

Translation: Nice try, Blaise, but this isn’t Hernando County (which he used to represent in the state senate).

And for the record, Miami has been cutting tax rates while growing services, Mayor Francis Suarez pointed out — conveniently from behind a press statement, not a podium.

Read related: Anthony Rodriguez, Florida lawmakers discuss elimination of property taxes

“Recent comments from Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia suggesting Miami ‘overspent’ by $90 million misrepresent the facts. Miami has shown real fiscal discipline, making tough choices to protect taxpayers while maintaining essential services,” said Suarez, who is termed out and looking for more work. He also took a dig at the state, which “has never reduced its 6 percent sales tax, the single largest tax burden paid by Floridians.

“What they’ve offered instead are short-term tax holidays and temporary exemptions, essentially tax gimmicks, not permanent structural relief. Meanwhile, the state’s budget has grown from $92 billion in FY 2020–21 to $117 billion in FY 2025–26, a $25 billion increase, or nearly 25 percent growth in five years,” Suarez said. “Miami isn’t overspending, we’re leading by example. We’re delivering results within our means, lowering taxes responsibly, and setting the statewide standard for efficient, accountable government.”

Ingoglia insists Miami’s got “a lot of fat that needs to be trimmed.”

That line drew a quick amen from — who else? — Commissioner Joe Carollo, who is also running for mayor and never met a “government waste” headline he didn’t love, unless it is about his own lawsuits or his own spending at the Bayfront Park Management Trust, which is another audit we’re still waiting for.

Carollo told The Miami Herald the city “has a lot of fat” it can cut, though Ladra wonders if that includes the extra lawyers they’ve hired to defend all those Carollo lawsuits.

This whole dog and pony show wasn’t really about spreadsheets or efficiency — it was about political theater. Ingoglia’s DOGE tour is setting up his election next year as well as the DeSantis-backed tax amendment campaign. And Miami, with its billion-dollar budget and flashy skyline, makes for the perfect villain.

It also doesn’t hurt that the headlines could help the Gonzalez mayoral campaign.

Ladra is not saying that there should not be an audit of Miami’s books. But it shouldn’t be a political message. It’s worth watching what those DOGE audits actually find — if anything ever makes it past the slogans. Because sometimes, the loudest watchdogs are just barking for votes.

And until Ingoglia shows us his work, this DOGE looks a lot more like a Chihuahua than a Rottweiler.

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  Blaise Ingoglia, DOGE, Ron DeSantis