Manatee 'overspent' $112.4 million to grow government, Florida CFO says

When Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia addressed Manatee County’s “wasteful spending” on Thursday, he didn’t cite big projects or big purchases, he cited big government.

“The growth of government itself is the wasteful spending,” he said at a press conference at Pier 22 in Bradenton. 

Ingoglia said Manatee County's population has increased by about 61,000 residents over the past five years, while the county staff increased by 472 full-time employees. 

"This is why the budget has gotten away from them," Ingoglia said about the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners. "They're hiring librarians, administrators, clerks, and expanding government at a rate that is probably unprecedented in this area."

Ingoglia stood behind a podium with a sign that read, “FAFO Audit.” In modern slang, FAFO stands for (explicative) Around and Find Out. In this case, it stands for the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight. 

Gov. Ron Desantis posted to X in early August that FAFO “had a nice ring to it.” Since then, it’s become the unofficial name for Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency. 

At the same time, Ingoglia said “there are two separate things happening.” There is an “audit” that is identifying specific line items that are considered to be wasteful and another “audit” that is identifying high-level overspending.

While Ingoglia focused on the rate at which Manatee County has grown over the past five years, he said the $112.4 million in overspending was isolated to Fiscal Year 2024-2025 and claimed the millage rate could have been reduced by 1.09 mills. 

The reduction could have saved the owner of a $500,000 home $545 a year. 

According to the FAFO audit, the county’s general fund budget increased by $269,945,268 over the last five years or by 69%, which Ingoglia noted was the largest increase the office has seen to date. 

Manatee County was the seventh local government to be audited by the state. Ingoglia cited the “grand total of excessive and wasteful spending” at over $1.1 billion in just one year.