A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville City Council members already started a local DOGE effort, but a Republican member wants to follow Gov. Ron DeSantis’ urging of “voluntary” compliance and get the state involved as well.
“Taxpayers deserve confidence that their money is being spent wisely,” said Councilman Terrance Freeman. “By voluntarily inviting the Governor’s DOGE team to examine Jacksonville’s books, we’re embracing accountability and actively seeking ways to trim government waste, improve efficiency, and pass savings along to the taxpayers.”
Freeman, a former Council President who may be eyeing a run for Florida House next year, is supporting the Governor’s Executive Order 25-44, which brings in executive branch teams to look over the city’s books.
He believes this bill will only supplement local efforts. Bringing in “the Governor’s team to take an outside look at our finances, combined with the Duval DOGE, will equip our city with every tool possible to ensure we are operating at peak efficiency.”
The local DOGE effort is expected to be wrapped by June 23. Thus far, potential savings are eyed via subfund sweeps from stalled capital projects.
Mayor Donna Deegan’s office is skeptical that Freeman’s filing is needed.
“It seems Councilman Freeman missed the memo that his colleagues are already hiring an independent external auditor, an annual process that is outlined in the City Charter. It’s hard to understand why he wants to waste taxpayer resources on duplicating this effort,” a spokesperson said Monday.
If Jacksonville complies with this, Duval County will join Bay and Hillsborough on the DeSantis DOGE train.
