The Florida Department of Government Efficiency used the City of Gainesville and Alachua County as examples of inefficient spending in a report on local government spending released Wednesday.
The report, which criticized diversity initiatives and excess spending, came around five months after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced DOGE would conduct on-site audits of cities and counties accused of wasteful expenditures.
DeSantis and Blaise Ingoglia, the state Chief Financial Officer, visited Gainesville in July 2025, and Ingoglia requested access to city property, data systems and personnel to conduct the audit.
In September 2025, Ingoglia visited Alachua County to announce an audit found the county had tallied $85 million in wasteful spending, though details of the report were not released at that time.
Other democratic-leaning counties including Broward, Miami-Dade and Orange, as well as the cities of Jacksonville, St. Petersburg and Orlando, were among those included in the newly publicized report.
In the nine pages of the 98-page report devoted to Alachua and Gainesville, the state overestimated Gainesville’s population by about 200,000 people, criticized the city for sourcing workshops from UNESCO, which it called a “pro-genocide agency,” and referred to a multi-day Alachua training program as “aggressive DEI indoctrination.”
The city
In the report’s overview of city spending, Florida DOGE reported Gainesville millage, or property tax rates, have soared in the past ten years, more than doubling the city’s tax revenue since 2017. In the past decade, the audit said, the city has increased property tax collections by 150% while the population grew by less than 20%.
The report added Gainesville officials have justified higher property taxes in part because of revenue losses from Gainesville Regional Utilities. The city lost its control over regional utilities to an independent board in 2023 after a bill passed in the Florida House of Representatives, though an ongoing lawsuit may give GRU jurisdiction back to the city.
But, in fiscal year 2023-2024, the city saw an increase of 46% in other sources of revenue, the audit said, “essentially offsetting the previous contribution from GRU.”
“The city’s response to losing the ability to tap into GRU’s surplus should have been better fiscal stewardship, not a $24 million increase in extractions from the Gainesville property tax base,” the report said.
City Commissioner Bryan Eastman said he believes the report focused heavily on the city’s property taxes because it couldn’t show instances of overspending in Gainesville, as it did with other cities and counties.
“I would hold our city up as one that has done more cuts and more budget restraints than any other city,” he said. “I find it odd that that’s not included in that DOGE report.”
The purpose of the tax increase was to make up for a 50% cut to the general fund transfer from GRU, or money that helps fund daily government operations, Eastman said. That cut was required by the state-issued debt reduction plan, Eastman said.
The city voted in 2023 to reduce GRU’s debt by $315 million in 10 years. It also adopted a new plan to supplement the general fund transfer.
A majority of the increase in tax revenue collection went toward first response services and increasing salaries at the sheriff’s office, he said, and the city also made up for the losses through means other than tax revenue. Nearly 162 city positions were eliminated, and millions of dollars were cut from its annual budget, he said.
Under a “noncompliance with personnel policies” section, the DOGE report said the city is in violation of its own policy that staff members on “special assignments” must continue performing regular job duties.
The audit said an administrative manager in the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department, whose responsibilities were reassigned over two years ago, may be receiving a “special assignment” bonus for their duties in their previously held position, despite not continuing their previous responsibilities.
Eastman said Florida DOGE correctly identified the clerical error. The reclassification of the previous administrative manager in the city’s log “lagged” but is now complete, he said, and the chart will be corrected moving forward.
Regarding diversity, equity and inclusion laws, the report outlined the city funds a $1.4 million Office of Equity and Inclusion. The office selected the fleet management office, which works under the transportation department, for “indoctrination” through a series of presentations originating from UNESCO, the audit said, leaving staff feeling “unfairly targeted.”
It was also reported the city screened its staff for resistance to DEI policies, concluding there would be no pushback because employees were "scared of termination.”
“When I read that, I was shocked,” Eastman said.
Eastman said he doesn’t know where DOGE acquired the DEI-related information, and the city does not have any documentation of the cited allegations.
The city is required under the 1964 Civil Rights Act to conduct anti-discrimination training, he said, meaning the presentations shown to staff are not indoctrination.
In a follow-up email, Eastman said there are “clear factual errors” in the Gainesville section that raise concerns about the audit’s broad accuracy. The listed city population, he said, is wrong by roughly 200,000 people.
While the report listed Gainesville’s population at 364,471, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows it is around 146,000 people.
“It’s a report that wants to make a point,” he said, “and not one that I’m seeing is trying to give us an honest look at where we’re succeeding and where we’re not succeeding.”
The county
The report said a substantial amount of money went toward pay increases and multiple large terminal payouts for Alachua County employees.
Florida DOGE reported a 6% increase in pay for the 2024-25 fiscal year, as well as a 4% or $1/hour increase in 2023-24. This came in addition to a merit-based increase in both years that cost a total of $1.05 million, the report said.
According to a press release by Alachua County for the current fiscal year budget, the county raised its minimum wage from $18 to $18.50 an hour and provided a 4% cost-of-living adjustment for all its employees in order to “attract and retain a skilled workforce.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported in September that wages and salaries for state and local government workers increased 3.5% nationwide and benefit costs increased 3.8% over the last year.
In a statement to The Alligator, Alachua County Communications Director Mark Sexton said the county’s budget reflects the values of its community.
“ The state did not provide us the report, nor the supporting data. We were able to locate the report through the efforts of the media,” Sexton said. “We will now take the time to review it.”
The report said the county awarded numerous small grants with minimal oversight, such as $3,000 for “Spirit Led Art Therapy” and $2,500 for the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice’s “Art Tag Grant Program.”
The Art Tag Grant Program aims to increase accessibility of arts experiences to underserved communities, according to a press release. The grant includes a list of what the money can be used for, such as art supplies, music supplies, and costumes. Activities of the grantee will be monitored as needed throughout the project, and the grantee must provide a final detailed report of funds, the release notes.
The grant is eligible for residents of all cities within Alachua County for public art projects.
The report stated the county paid UF over $100,000 in professional services for which no invoices or payment specifics were kept.
The report also outlined DEI services Alachua County provides that are considered "indoctrination,” including the establishment of the Alachua County Equity Advisory Board in 2025.
The report said the Equity Advisory Board was “tasked with redesigning county programs to deliberately discriminate” in an effort to undo purported racial and gender bias.
According to the Alachua County website, the Equity Advisory Board was established to ensure that input marginalized communities is reflected in county policy development.
Other examples in the report included DEI training programs for the workplace. The report said Alachua County firefighters were “diverted from their mission” to discuss so-called ‘systemic sexism, racism, discrimination, and inequality.’”
Contact Maria Arruda at marruda@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @mariazalfarruda.
Contact Kaitlyn McCormack at kmccormack@alligator.org. Follow her on X @kaitmccormack20.
Maria Arruda is a second-year journalism and political science student, currently working as the City Commission reporter for The Alligator. Previously, she reported on Student Government under The Alligator's University desk. She enjoys running, reading and going to movie theaters!
Kaitlyn McCormack is a senior journalism student serving as the County Commission Reporter for The Alligator's Spring 2026 metro desk. In her free time she enjoys journaling and drinking too much coffee
