JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval leaders are doubling down on DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), with a newly filed resolution requesting the state-level DOGE team audit the county’s budget.
City Council members are now suggesting that any savings could be given directly back to taxpayers.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Councilmember Terrance Freeman (R-Group 1 At-Large) filed the resolution in hopes that the state-level team could identify potential efficiencies and savings.
“When I learned of Governor (Ron) DeSantis’ ask for municipalities to volunteer to opt in, and the key word here volunteer to opt in, it really piqued my interest because I said, ‘Man, if we could get another layer of transparency into this process it only makes it better,‘” Freeman said.
The call comes even though a locally led DOGE effort is already scrutinizing city spending.
RELATED: Duval DOGE mulls roughly $100 million in capital projects
Duval DOGE Committee Chair Ron Salem (R-Group 2 At-Large) said he believes the two efforts can complement one another.
“I think it’s definitely synergy in what they could add to the program,” Salem said.
But Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s office believes the potential state involvement would be redundant, given the City Council is already planning to commission an independent audit of the city’s finances.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
“It’s hard to understand why he [Freeman] wants to waste taxpayer resources on duplicating this effort,” a spokesperson from the mayor’s office told Action News Jax in an emailed statement.
Freeman argued that since the state team will be looking at multiple local governments, it will be able to bring a unique perspective to the table.
“This group now will be working with information, hopefully from 67 counties, to where if one county is doing something that might benefit another, that information could be shared,” Freeman said.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
And Salem told Action News Jax he intends to return any savings produced through the DOGE efforts directly to taxpayers.
“Some type of rebate that I’m presently exploring with our auditors. And we’ll be presenting something to the DOGE committee at some point here in the future,” Salem said.
If the resolution is ultimately approved, Duval County would join Bay and Hillsborough counties, which have already agreed to allow the Governor’s DOGE team to review their budgets.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
