Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia told members of Tallahassee's Network of Entrepreneurs and Business Advocates (NEBA) on Feb. 24 that both he and Governor Ron DeSantis really want to get rid of property taxes on homesteaded properties. He just doesn't think it'll happen in the next few weeks.
"Will that get through the Legislature? No. I think it's clear at this point it's not going through the Legislature. I think what is also clear is that nothing is going to get done (this) legislature and we're going to have to do it in a special session."
And while the federal DOGE effort to shrink spending and headcount has essentially vanished from the scene, Ingoglia said a similar effort aimed by the state at local government entities very much continues in Florida.
"I'm going to do every taxing authority. I want to do this exercise for everyone: school boards, local governments, and all the cities. So we're eventually going to get to everyone and we'll probably put out some sort of spending scorecard in the future. I'll think we'll be somewhere between $10 billion to $13 billion of excessive and wasteful spending."
Ingoglia became Florida CFO in July of 2025. He previously served in the Florida Senate and House and also was chair of the Republican Party of Florida from 2015 to 2019.
