Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia on Thursday identified more than $302 million in what he described as “excessive, wasteful spending” in Miami-Dade County’s budget, marking the highest total found among nine local governments reviewed by his office to date.

Ingoglia said the review is part of a broader effort to uncover opportunities for property tax relief by identifying unnecessary expenditures in local budgets. Across the nine jurisdictions analyzed so far, the CFO’s office has flagged roughly $1.5 billion in spending it considers wasteful.

“I continue to be astounded at the amount of wasteful, excessive spending by local governments over the last five years, but unfortunately, Miami-Dade County takes the cake,” Ingoglia said. “They have overspent and overtaxed their residents to the tune of $302 million, and they have exploded the local government bureaucracy with the hiring of more than 2800 employees over just the last 5 years. Miami-Dade officials must take action to do better by their constituents and provide property tax relief for the families that depend on them.”

According to the analysis, Miami-Dade’s general fund has increased by more than $843 million since the 2019–2020 fiscal year, representing a 50 percent rise. The county added more than 2,800 employees during that period, while population growth totaled about 65,500 residents.

The report suggests that Miami-Dade could reduce its millage rate by 0.53 mills without affecting services, potentially saving homeowners between $266 and $372 annually depending on property value.

Turner Losel of the James Madison Institute said a recent poll found 72 percent of Florida voters support property tax reform.

“We are grateful for CFO Ingoglia paving the way for property tax relief, starting with holding local governments accountable,” Losel said.

Ingoglia said his office will continue reviewing additional local budgets across Florida in the months ahead.