
After months of financial abuse allegations lobbed by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration against local governments, city leaders pushed back Tuesday in a Florida House meeting focused on cutting property taxes.
“Waste is in the eye of the beholder,” said Casey Cook, the Florida League of Cities’ chief of legislative affairs. “Nobody likes paying taxes, but safe isn’t free. Clean isn’t free.”
Cook, joined by other county and city leaders, spoke Tuesday morning during the Florida House’s fourth meeting of the Select Committee on Property Taxes, hosted to explore the best way to slash the “most hated tax” and bring relief to Floridians struggling under the weight of rising costs.
DeSantis and top leaders have targeted local governments over property tax levels, decrying city and county officials for alleged rampant “waste, fraud, and abuse” at a slew of statewide press conferences.
But on Tuesday, local government officials took the public stage for the first time to claim that that’s not true.
“One person’s community amenity could be the next person’s biggest waste ever,” Cook said, noting the subjectivity of how property tax allocations can benefit some citizens and over-tax others. “And one person’s exemption is another person’s tax increase.”
Property taxes vary city to city and county to county, contributing roughly 47% of public school funding statewide. They also help pay for public safety operations, which include law enforcement, fire stations, and emergency management. In 2024, counties spent a total of $60.17 billion, $16.13 billion of which went to public safety, said Davin Suggs, deputy executive eirector of the Florida Association of Counties.
Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican who co-chairs the Florida House’s property tax committee, said that the local governments’ presentations made her more clearly understand the case-by-case basis that different cities and counties operate on when it comes to property tax, making a one-size-fits-all approach to the dilemma far less likely, she told reporters after the four-hour meeting.
“I do believe that today we’ve learned maybe there are some counties and cities that are doing it right, and maybe there are counties and cities that need a little help in reducing their expenses,” Lopez said, adding that she looks forward to the Florida DOGE team’s findings from the seven counties and five municipalities they’ve investigated.
Despite the difficulty, Lopez and co-chair Rep. Toby Overdorf, a Palm City Republican, “absolutely” believe that at least one constitutional amendment on property taxes will be on the ballot in 2026.
What is DOGE doing for property taxes?
DeSantis has repeatedly called for property tax cuts to ease homeowners’ financial burdens. He pressured the Florida Legislature during the 2025 session for property tax relief, but lawmakers struggled to determine how to balance slashing property taxes while still funding key public institutions.
To address the situation, the House created a 37-member property tax committee while DeSantis directed his new DOGE team to investigate local governments for alleged “waste, fraud, and abuse” — some of which he claims is driving up property tax rates.
On Tuesday, Leda Kelly, director of the Office of Policy and Budget in the Executive Office of the Governor, presented an overview of the Florida DOGE team. She faced minimal questioning from lawmakers, but insisted the team remains “committed” to locating efficiency and stomping out inefficiency across local governments.
Democrat Rep. Anna Eskamani, representing Orlando, isn’t so sure.
“I do find it ironic that the search for efficiency can be so inefficient,” she said. Eskamani referenced DOGE hiring a team leader, Eric Soskin, while “co-opting” other department employees into the task force.
Cook touched on a similar vein when he was asked to detail the salaries of local government workers in a question hinting at some city managers who rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cook pointed out that nearly 2,000 state employees make more than DeSantis’s $141K yearly salary. Beyond that, DeSantis’ cost of living is nearly entirely footed by the taxpayer, he said.
“The governor has a security detail, his family has a security detail, the governor has a driver, probably part of the security detail, and when the governor travels, he travels on a private plane,” Cook said, adding that DeSantis lives in Tallahassee’s Governor’s Mansion.
“If you were to break that down with a total cost to the taxpayer, I would wager that the typical city manager makes less than 10-20 times the total compensation of the governor.”
One of those state employees who makes more than the governor is Soskin. His salary is more than $197K.
–Livia Caputo, Florida Phoenix
Greg says
I think there has been a lot of waste here in Flagler County. Let’s look hard at the sheriffs blunder. Several million wasted converting the old hospital in Bunnell to Staleys office. All of a sudden, Staley states it no good and not healthy. All proven wrong by the experts. So let’s build Staley a new multi million dollar palace while selling the other, non usable building for peanuts, soon to be sold to a welding company for pennys on the dollar, and it suits them just fine. Then the old Sears building.
Issued away MILLIONS of tax payers dollars. The city voted down the new city office complex, built anyway. Then the city raises counsel wages and gives healthcare for part time jobs. There seems to be NO fiscial responsibility in the city or county. Roads are crap, but the landscaping is AWSOME! I just wonder what the next white elephant will be in the county?
Land of no turn signals says says
In my mind it’s simple math.If you take 1,ooo empty lots that generate on average $400 per lot in property tax’s a year that’s $40,000 in tax revenue.Now build a house on each lot and charge $4000 in property taxes now it’s $400,000.Now multiply that for the last 20 years plus the increase in property taxes on exiting homes.where has it all gone?
Jane Gentile-Youd says
I allege that Flagler County is the worst managed county in the state of Florida this year as follows:
I allege that NONE of the Flagler County Commissioners even read the budget they approved Monday. Andy Dance told citizen Rich Drgos to call the county to get the expenses and revenues for recent preceding years but fiscal years 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and still current 2024-2025 ALL listed on the Proposed 329 page budget they received many times over! Commissioner Karney had no ideal who picked up the garbage in her district when Waste Pro ( who was give a sweeter than sweet 11% increase charged to all of us RESIDENTIAL people ‘ only’…. budget shows ‘updated house count
Salaries for department personnel were shown as one gross amount per department and not broken down by individual employee, Heidi didn’t want anyone to know she is charging us $208,000 a year to totally mismanage our county. WHO APPROVED HER SALARY? WHO KNOWS WHO CARES?
Budget says 44,966 NEW HOUSES MORE THAN LAST YEAR reason for Waste Pro Increase. Really Heidi – please show us the 44,966 new houses in UNINCORPORATED COUNTY….. R e a l l y???
Airport is the 4th busiest in Florida – Wow – 176,000 landings and takeoffs a year ( obviously the touch and goes are being counted as landing and takeoffs to get more $$$$) 80 aircraft based at the airport? Then why is the airport , KFIN which is an Enterprise Fund mandated to be self supporting always being given MILLIONS $$$ of OUR ad valorem money ( illegally in my opiniom) to make up fir them being in the red year after year after year. Sieger should have been fired a long time ago but he is tooooo busy having lunch frequently with Ms. Petito…)
20,000 people in unincorporated Flagler County but we need to give Sheriff ( his state ordered salary is $222,000) a BUDGET of $61,530,000 to do with as he pleases – no accounting necessary per statute but the additional $1,846,000 he gets from our general fund to maintain his cars, his boats, his multi million dollar headquarters. This is reprehensible.
TWENTY employees in ‘Innovative Technology’. You must be joking but nope – total salaries approximately IT $2,800 !!!!!!!!
Total Legal: 4 employees: Three attorneys for 20,000 people COMBINED SALARY: $504,171. PLUS the $110,000 paid to OUTSIDE attorneys PER YEAR average over 10 years.
Engineering: Chief Engineer , hired in 2021( who does not know Old Dixie Highway exists in Flagler) who county put in charge. Why SEVEN employees in Engineering? Heidi fired Faith Alkhatib and pays Mr, Tabassian $63,000 a year but the Engineer who has been with the county 25 years gets $107,000. $800,000 total Engineering salary for 20,000 people
Kim Carney said she was not happy with high salaries but she still voted to approve the budget?
WHO APPROVED HEIDI PETITO EARNING $208,000 FOR HER TOTAL IMCOMPETENY ( my opinion). The Commission decides on the salaries of the county attorney(ies) and County Administrator. WHO authorized THREE county attorneys for 20,000 people in addition to outside $1000,000 + yearly average to attorneys ( not shown anywhere in the budget)?
I could go on and on and on but would probably be one out of about 10 people in the entire county who took time to read this wacked-out budget. If more than 25 or 30 people gave a damn about our county’s decisions and total failure to ack on behalf of us who pay their salaries ,we would not be faced with such gross inefficiency, nor incompetence, laziness, nor malfeasance ( my opinion). Sickening is a compliment,
Based on the $63 million total going to the Sheriff each of the 20,000 residents ( not all taxpayers) costs the county $3,150 just to have the Sheriff services.. This does not count the couple of dollars sheriff gives us back drug money his collects…** I have few complaints about his staff – just one last week when I witnessed a deputy grab an elderly woman and drag her out of chambers which Andy Dance said was overcrowded. We need a bigger chamber more than IT personnel, nor staff that is paid more than CEOs of major corporations who make decisions for only 20,000 people.
If we only knew what a total joke Flagler County would become when we moved here over 23 years ago we would have stayed in South Florida where at least a citizen has a fighting chance of being recognized and winning issues,. Not here- only the BIG BOYS -many of whom don’t even live in Flagler county count!!
Amen. Gotta start budgeting now to make sure we pay our tax money in November to the band of thieves ( my opinion)
Jane Gentile-Youd says
OOPS County Engineer Tabassian gets $163,000 a year not $63,000. It $2,800,000 not $280,000. Soreee
James says
Right! Let’s believe the agency (Florida League of Cities/Association of Counties) that gets paid by local governments to lobby for them. NOT!!!!! Government’s waste a ton of money…and this budget season, we didn’t see anyone do a deep dive into spending to look at real cost savings on the local level. Just going through the motions. I don’t like the property tax idea, but it’s not because I’m siding with the gov’t!
Billy B says
They could start with the utility department. The swale in front of my house was dug up three times and it’s still a lake when it rains’ One of the first questions they should ask before they hire anyone in the utility department does water flows uphill or downhill. And then you have the millions being pissed away on landscaping. Workers in hazardous locations pulling weeds for hours on end and unnecessary plantings everywhere. They should hire a landscape architect who wasn’t a graduate of Trump University’\.
Sherry says
Perhaps desantis needs to look “inward”. . . his administration has wasted HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of taxpayers’ hard earned money on persecuting the hard working migrants that keep Florida’s tourist economy humming:
Reporting from 2022 to 2025 indicates that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has directed the use of millions in state taxpayer funds for programs related to migrants, generating significant controversy and legal challenges. These funds were for relocating them to other states and for establishing a detention facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by critics. Critics have questioned the costs and effectiveness of these programs, while DeSantis’ administration has defended them as necessary to address illegal immigration and promote border security.
Migrant relocation flights to Martha’s Vineyard and Sacramento
DeSantis’ administration paid a total of over $2.1 million to a contractor, Vertol Systems, to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, in 2022, and from Texas to Sacramento, California, in 2023.
The initial flights in September 2022 transported approximately 50 migrants, mostly Venezuelans seeking asylum, from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. Reports revealed the migrants were lured with false promises of jobs and housing.
A second operation in June 2023 flew migrants from Texas to Sacramento, California. The California Attorney General launched an investigation into the matter, focusing on potential deception. Legal scrutiny over the use of state funds has been a major point of contention. A lawsuit alleged that the money was misused because the migrants were transported from Texas, not Florida, violating the language of the state budget. A federal judge dismissed DeSantis as a defendant from a related lawsuit but allowed claims against the transportation company to proceed. A separate, revamped lawsuit in July 2024 included new evidence alleging that DeSantis officials were more directly involved in the planning.
“Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility
In 2025, Florida allocated millions toward opening an immigration detention facility at a closed prison in north Florida.
Expensive construction and operation: News reports in August 2025 stated the facility was set to close after costing the state $245 million, though a court decision in September created a potential path for federal funding. Operating costs were estimated at $450 million annually.
Legal challenges: Federal courts have ruled against aspects of Florida’s immigration laws, with one decision in July 2025 blocking a measure making it a crime for undocumented immigrants to enter or re-enter Florida.
Florida Highway Patrol enforcement
In August 2025, DeSantis highlighted the Florida Highway Patrol’s (FHP) role in immigration enforcement, claiming it was a national leader in the effort. Over 1,800 FHP troopers have received special federal training, allowing them to perform some federal immigration functions. The governor secured a significant pay increase for FHP troopers to support these efforts.