Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia Announces Over $49 Million in the City of St. Petersburg as “Excessive, Wasteful Spending”
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- Today, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Blaise Ingoglia announced that the City of St. Petersburg is excessively, wastefully spending $49 million in the 2025-2026 General Fund Budget. CFO Ingoglia is urging St. Petersburg elected officials to listen to their constituents and provide property tax relief.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said, “Our methodology is showing that local governments should be cutting out reckless spending and lowering property taxes. Housing affordability is the number one issue for Floridians right now and local governments can provide property tax relief but instead, they are choosing to spend your excess property tax dollars on administrative bloat. As CFO, I will continue an advocate for the taxpayers and prevent local government’s budgets from becoming bloated.”
The Florida Agency of Fiscal Oversight (FAFO) found that the St. Petersburg General Fund Budget has increased by $132,946,115 between Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-2020 and FY 2025-2026, representing an increase of 47.66%. In addition, the population has grown by 11,504 or 4.45% over the past six years. The budget increased by $11,557 for each new citizen that moved to St. Petersburg, while for a family of four, the budget increased by $46,228.
Since FY 2019-2020, the city has added 371 full-time employees. However, only 65 of those employees were for police, fire, and emergency medical services.
The City of St. Petersburg can reduce the millage rate by 1.34 mills without disrupting necessary services provided to their citizens. If the city applied this reduction, homeowners could save:
- A taxable home value of $400,000 would save $535 per year
- A taxable home value of $500,000 would save $669 per year
- A taxable home value of $600,000 would save $802 per year
CFO Ingoglia has revealed over $1.97 billion in excessive, wasteful spending in the General Fund Budget from the past two years across thirteen local governments. CFO Ingoglia plans to continue to expose excessive, wasteful spending across the state as part of his role as Chief Financial Officer of Florida.
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About the CFO
Florida
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and State Fire Marshal Blaise Ingoglia serves as
the state’s top financial watchdog, a member of the Florida Cabinet, and the
head of the Florida Department of Financial Services. As CFO, he oversees
billions of dollars in state funds and is committed to protecting taxpayer
dollars, strengthening Florida’s fiscal health, and delivering essential
services that support the state’s excellent economy. As State Fire Marshal, CFO
Ingoglia also works every day to support Florida’s first responders as they
risk their lives to serve and protect communities across the state.