A.G. Gancarski
By a 13-5 vote, Duval County’s legislative branch is backing a state-level Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) probe of its finances.
The Jacksonville City Council passed Republican Terrance Freeman’s resolution 2025-259 calling for the audit from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ team.
Freeman, a likely candidate for the Legislature next year, said the Council is “volunteering in” on this push, which “builds on the good work of Duval DOGE,” a local probe of the budget.
“The purpose of this legislation is to voluntarily request a financial audit of the City of Jacksonville/Duval County’s budget and expenditures by the Florida Department of Government Efficiency,” reads the bill summary.
Freeman said the push wasn’t “political,” but is about “transparency” in the budget process.
“We’ll simply be sending what has already been gathered to Tallahassee,” Freeman said, noting that 65 counties were already on board.
He also rejected the argument that this resolution subverts “home rule,” saying that DOGE only sends “recommendations” and locals have “the final say.”
“I’m really interested in what they discover in Duval,” Freeman said.
Republicans, including Council President Randy White, Council Vice President Kevin Carrico and Mike Gay, signed on as cosponsors.
Some members voiced objections, with Democrat Jimmy Peluso saying the “sickening” resolution “reeks of politicization” and brings “chaos in Tallahassee” into the local process.
Democrat Rahman Johnson said the bill was “nonsense … cloaking itself in the language of transparency.”
The local DOGE looks at stalled-out capital projects, among other issues. But the state-level effort will likely be a more rigorous probe, looking at spending increases in recent general fund budgets and whether they accord with the politically conservative governance prioritized by the Governor.
