[ad_1]
548. SEE YOU GUYS THEN. SEE YOU THEN. TONY. ALL RIGHT. THE STATE DOSE TEAM CONTINUES TO TARGET WHAT THEY CALL WASTEFUL SPENDING BY CITIES AND COUNTIES. ORLANDO IS TAKING THE LATEST HIT FROM REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP. BUT AS WESH TWO NEWS POLITICAL REPORTER GREG FOX EXPLAINS, THE STATE IS LEAVING OUT KEY INFORMATION. ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE. OUR PROPERTY TAXES ARE HIGH BECAUSE OF YOU. USING RHYME AND METER, REPUBLICAN CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER BLAISE INGOGLIA BLASTED SPENDING IN THE CITY OF ORLANDO DURING THE PAST TWO MONTHS, THE CFO AND STATE DOSAGE TEAM HAVE BEEN REVIEWING SPENDING IN THE CITY AND IN ORANGE COUNTY. THEY FLAGGED SEVERAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING $460,000 SPENT COUNTING TREES, $150,000 SPENT ON ASSISTANCE FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS, $67,500 OVER FIVE YEARS FOR HOT YOGA CLASSES, AND $6,000 ANNUALLY FOR A POET LAUREATE. THE PEOPLE KEEP ASKING, WHERE DOES IT GO? THE COFFERS RUN EMPTY, YET TAXES STILL GROW IN THE HALLS OF THE CITY. ONE LESSON IS CLEAR WASTEFUL SPENDING ECHOES YEAR AFTER YEAR. I CAUGHT UP WITH MAYOR BUDDY DYER AND HE SAYS THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER MAY HAVE WANTED TO DO A LITTLE MORE HOMEWORK BEFORE MAKING HIS REMARKS. IT’S ALL POLITICS. IT SHOULD BE BENEATH THEM. MAYOR DYER EXPLAINED THAT THE YOGA PROGRAM IS PART OF EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND WELLNESS, AND THE ASSERTION THAT THE CITY IS WASTING TAXPAYER MONEY. COUNTING TREES DOESN’T HOLD WATER. ACCORDING TO THE MAYOR, BECAUSE THE PROGRAM OF ENSURING THE HEALTH OF THE CITY’S TREE CANOPY ISN’T FUNDED WITH LOCAL TAX DOLLARS, STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDING. AND WE HAVE A TREE TRUST FUND WHERE IF YOU TAKE DOWN A TREE, YOU’VE GOT TO PAY INTO IT. SO NO GENERAL FUND RELATED TO THAT. SO THEY DIDN’T DIG VERY DEEP IN TERMS OF THEIR ANALYSIS AND CRITICIZING MONEY SPENT ON THE CITY’S POET LAUREATE. SEAN, WELCOME. DURING THE PAST FOUR YEARS, THE MAYOR POINTS OUT IT WAS MODELED AFTER THE STATE’S POET LAUREATE PROGRAM THAT’S BEEN AROUND FOR NEARLY A CENTURY, AND MONEY THAT GOES TO THE ORLANDO CENTER FOR JUSTICE TO ASSIST THOSE WITH IMMIGRATION CASES IS NOT FROM THE GENERAL FUND, BUT THROUGH GRANTS. RESPONDING TO CONTINUED CRITICISM FROM THE CFO ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY SPENDING, MAYOR JERRY DEMINGS RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING ORANGE COUNTY TAKES ITS RESPONSIBILITY TO TAXPAYERS SERIOUSLY, AND WE STAND BY THE INVESTMENTS WE MAKE IN OUR COMMUNITY COVERING ORANGE COUNTY. GREG FOX, WESH TWO NEWS. THE STATE HAS GIVEN NO TIMETABLE ON WHEN THEY
Orlando, Orange County push back on DOGE wasteful spending accusations
Updated: 6:56 PM EDT Oct 2, 2025
“Roses are red, violets are blue. Our property taxes are high because of you,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said during a Jacksonville news conference. The Republican used rhyme and meter to blast spending in the city of Orlando and Orange County, spending on programs that conservative leadership in Tallahassee considers wasteful and unnecessary. During the past two months, the CFO and state DOGE team have been reviewing spending in the city and county. Ingoglia flagged several programs in Orlando, including $460,000 spent “counting” trees, $150,000 spent on assistance for undocumented immigrants, $67,500 over five years for hot yoga classes and $6,000 annually for a poet laureate. Focusing on the poet laureate, Ingoglia said, “The people keep asking, where does it go? The coffers run empty, yet taxes still grow. In the halls of the city, one lesson is clear: wasteful spending echoes year after year.” WESH 2 News talked with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who said the CFO may not have done all the homework he should have before making his remarks, with Dyer adding, “It’s all politics. It should be beneath them.”Dyer explained that the yoga program is part of employee health and wellness, which is encouraged in cities and counties across the country. The assertion that the city is wasting taxpayer money counting trees doesn’t hold water, according to the mayor, because the program of ensuring the health of the city’s tree canopy isn’t funded with tax dollars, with Dyer adding, “That’s funded with state and federal grants. It is a State Department of Agriculture program that we’re doing, and we have a tree trust fund that, when you take down a tree, you have to pay into it. So there is no general fund in that. So they didn’t dig very deep in terms of their analysis.” Addressing the money spent on the city’s poet laureate, who has been Shawn Welcome during the past four years, the mayor points out that it was modeled after the state’s poet laureate program, that’s been around since 1927.It’s worth noting that the state does not pay a stipend to the poet laureate. Orlando had been paying less annually, but for the new poet laureate named this month, the annual stipend will amount to $6,000, up from $4,000 annually for Welcome. And money that goes to the Orlando Center for Justice, to assist those with immigration cases, is not from the general fund, but through grants. Responding to continued criticism from the CFO about Orange County spending, Mayor Jerry Demings released a statement saying, “Orange County takes its responsibility to taxpayers seriously, and we stand by the investments we make in our community.”
“Roses are red, violets are blue. Our property taxes are high because of you,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said during a Jacksonville news conference.
The Republican used rhyme and meter to blast spending in the city of Orlando and Orange County, spending on programs that conservative leadership in Tallahassee considers wasteful and unnecessary.
During the past two months, the CFO and state DOGE team have been reviewing spending in the city and county.
Ingoglia flagged several programs in Orlando, including $460,000 spent “counting” trees, $150,000 spent on assistance for undocumented immigrants, $67,500 over five years for hot yoga classes and $6,000 annually for a poet laureate.
Focusing on the poet laureate, Ingoglia said, “The people keep asking, where does it go? The coffers run empty, yet taxes still grow. In the halls of the city, one lesson is clear: wasteful spending echoes year after year.”
WESH 2 News talked with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who said the CFO may not have done all the homework he should have before making his remarks, with Dyer adding, “It’s all politics. It should be beneath them.”
Dyer explained that the yoga program is part of employee health and wellness, which is encouraged in cities and counties across the country.
The assertion that the city is wasting taxpayer money counting trees doesn’t hold water, according to the mayor, because the program of ensuring the health of the city’s tree canopy isn’t funded with tax dollars, with Dyer adding, “That’s funded with state and federal grants. It is a State Department of Agriculture program that we’re doing, and we have a tree trust fund that, when you take down a tree, you have to pay into it. So there is no general fund in that. So they didn’t dig very deep in terms of their analysis.”
Addressing the money spent on the city’s poet laureate, who has been Shawn Welcome during the past four years, the mayor points out that it was modeled after the state’s poet laureate program, that’s been around since 1927.
It’s worth noting that the state does not pay a stipend to the poet laureate. Orlando had been paying less annually, but for the new poet laureate named this month, the annual stipend will amount to $6,000, up from $4,000 annually for Welcome.
And money that goes to the Orlando Center for Justice, to assist those with immigration cases, is not from the general fund, but through grants.
Responding to continued criticism from the CFO about Orange County spending, Mayor Jerry Demings released a statement saying, “Orange County takes its responsibility to taxpayers seriously, and we stand by the investments we make in our community.”
[ad_2]
