Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia has launched a scathing critique of St. Petersburg's 2025-26 budget, accusing the city of overspending by $49. 4 million compared to a pre-pandemic baseline. According to Ingoglia, this excess expenditure could have been utilized to offer property tax relief, but instead, the city opted to expand its government. Ingoglia's allegations are part of a statewide effort to audit cities and counties for wasteful government spending. During a news conference at The Birchwood in St. Petersburg, he revealed that the bulk of the overspending was allocated towards hiring new employees, with 371 new hires added over a six-year period, only 65 of whom were first responders. This development has sparked concerns about the city's priorities, particularly given that the population grew by 11,504 residents during the same timeframe. A report by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times through a public records request, stated that St. Petersburg had "modestly reduced" its tax rate but had prioritized diversity programs and policies over spending restraint. Yahoo News reports that Ingoglia's office identified St. Petersburg as having some of the most egregious examples of wrongful DEI initiatives among the locations visited
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia accused the city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday of overspending in its 2025-26 budget by $49.4 ...Alternative viewpoints and findings: Visit website
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