Cities, counties and law enforcement agencies across Florida will now undergo state audits.
Governor Ron DeSantis made that announcement Tuesday with the state’s newly sworn-in chief financial officer Blaise Ingoglia.
Ingoglia says they’re going to begin auditing municipalities and agencies on July 31.
The audits will be performed by a team of in-person inspectors, with the help of artificial intelligence.
The governor says the goal of the audits is to free up enough money for the state to put property tax relief on the 2026 ballot.
“These things need scrutiny. Because I really believe you can do things at the local level that we really agree on: education, first responders, all that, and still be able to provide meaningful property tax relief,” DeSantis said. “But not if the spending is not kept in check on these other items.”
DeSantis say if municipalities and agencies don’t comply with the audits, the state could withhold their funding and they could face fines.
Pensacola Mayor DC Reeves says the city has complied with all requests from the “Florida Department of Government Efficiency.”
He says the city’s finance department submitted all the necessary information to the state on Friday ahead of Monday’s deadline.
