Florida targeted Manatee County with DOGE budget audit. Where is the report?
Nearly three months after the state’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team started its audit of Manatee County, there are still few results to report.
On Tuesday, the Board of County Commissioners heard an update that the state’s DOGE team wants to use Manatee County’s data as a pilot for a financial audit using artificial intelligence technology. At the meeting, Director of Government Relations Stephanie Garrison said the county has not received any significant updates from the audit.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the DOGE audit during a visit to Bradenton in July, alongside the state’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia. At the time, both state leaders said Manatee County Government had been identified as a municipality where leaders made “excessive” spending decisions that outpaced population growth.
According to Garrison, the pilot will use the data the county already gave the DOGE team and run it through an AI platform to look for inefficiencies. She said they expect to have results back within 90 days from the start of the program.
“In my opinion, we’ve been very transparent with the state,” Garrison told commissioners. “Nothing significant has come out of those findings since we provided that information. So I look at this as an opportunity for a third-party software to actually verify what we’ve been saying all along, which is Manatee County has justifiably spent these dollars or has used these dollars for public good.”
Manatee officials await FL DOGE report
Commissioner George Kruse said the county’s relationship with the state DOGE team is good, saying they’ve been having “very cordial, good, productive” conversations. He sees the AI pilot program as a positive.
“If we’re trying to meaningfully adjust our budget, we’re trying to meaningfully look at ways of saving money, we should look at every option available,” Kruse said. “We want to stay in good graces with DOGE.”
No vote was necessary for the AI pilot study, since the AI pilot program will cost the county between $2,000 and $4,000, but Garrison brought it before the board for transparency, she said.
Commissioner Bob McCann asked Garrison if the county has received the initial DOGE results yet.
“We haven’t had an official report, certainly not one specific to Manatee County,” Garrison replied. “There is supposed to be a more detailed report before session, but we haven’t had anything just yet.”
The Florida legislative session begins in mid-January.
During a press conference in August, Ingoglia said the DOGE team would have a report ready in about 60 days. The audit investigated a wide range of the county’s financial records, from personnel and purchasing to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
When reached by the Bradenton Herald for an update, a spokesperson for the Executive Office for the Governor said there were no updates to the county’s DOGE audit.
FAFO audit results announced in October
While the DOGE audit results remain uncertain, Ingoglia announced the findings of a separate audit in October.
Ingoglia’s office called it the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight (FAFO) audit, and told reporters at the press conference that it’s separate from the DOGE audit and looks at the bigger picture of the county’s budget.
According to Ingoglia, the FAFO audit found that Manatee County’s general fund for the current year is $112 million more than what his accountants think it should be. The CFO’s office accountants reviewed the last five years of the county’s budgets, using 2019-2020 as the baseline.
Other FAFO audit targets included Orange County, Hillsborough County and Broward County.
Ingoglia also criticized the county’s “wasteful” hiring of 472 full-time equivalent employees in the last five years.
“They’re hiring librarians, administrators, clerks and expanding government at a rate that is probably unprecedented in this area,” Ingoglia said at the press conference.
A Bradenton Herald analysis of those 472 personnel showed the staff increases varied widely across county departments, with Manatee County Sheriff’s Office personnel accounting for 19% of the additions, not including FY2025.
