Florida Says Palm Beach County WASTED $443 Million As County DEMANDS The Math Behind It

Florida's Chief Financial Officer says Palm Beach County wasted $443 million in a single budget year, and his office has now put the "waste" label on $3.7 billion across the state. Those numbers are being used to sell Amendment 3, the property tax amendment on the November 3 ballot.

So what did the state count? According to the Florida DOGE report itself, the "waste" figure is a formula: take a 2019 general fund budget, grow it by inflation and population, add a 5% buffer, and call everything above the line wasteful. We follow one question through the report, the CFO's own press releases, Palm Beach County's response and Jacksonville's city auditor.

Nobody in this story has been charged with anything. This is a dispute about arithmetic, and both sides get to show their math.

SOURCES Florida DOGE, Report on Local Government Spending (January 2026) Florida Department of Financial Services press releases, Dec. 4, 2025 and June 16, 2026 Jacksonville City Council Auditor analysis, Duval DOGE committee (February 2026) Florida Legislature, HJR 1F (June 2026 special session); Revenue Estimating Conference St. Pete Polls survey, September 17, 2026 Broadcast excerpts: CBS 12, WPTV, FOX 35, News4JAX, First Coast News, WEAR. Used for news commentary and criticism.

Jump to a chapter

1. 0:00 "Like drunken sailors"
2. 0:24 One question
3. 1:18 Who is counting
4. 2:17 Palm Beach gets its number
5. 3:03 The county asks for the math
6. 4:15 The state's answer
7. 4:58 Page twelve: the formula
8. 5:47 What the formula measures
9. 6:45 The line items
10. 7:56 June: face to face
11. 8:47 Two press releases
12. 9:43 Jacksonville checks the math
13. 10:40 What the auditor found
14. 11:37 Amendment 3 and your tax bill
15. 12:45 Both sides' case

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