Broward County opens books for DOGE auditors

By Rafael Olmeda South Florida Sun Sentinel

With no fanfare, no protest, and no resistance, officials at the Broward County Governmental Center open their doors and books for the governor’s team of auditors looking for examples of wasteful spending to bolster their criticism of woke, green and DEI programs.

“I’m going to look at this as a teachable moment,” said Broward County Mayor Beam Furr, speaking in his office as the nine auditors were elsewhere in the building, uploading thousands of documents showing how Broward has allocated taxpayer money over the last two years.

Gov. Ron DeSantis formed the auditing agency earlier this year, modeling it after what’s been called the federal Department of Government Efficiency effort, which was headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk over the first months of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Florida’s DOGE team operates in conjunction with the state’s new chief financial officer, Blaise Ingoglia.

A second DOGE team arrived in Gainesville on Thursday morning, according to the governor’s office. “Additionally, letters of intent to visit have been sent to Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Orange counties as well as the city of Jacksonville to prepare for on-site visits from DOGE teams,” according to the governor’s office.

Local elected officials have been critical of the state’s effort, with Broward County Commissioner Steve Geller saying the outcome of the audit has been predetermined.

“They were not sent down here to find out if we have been overspending,” he said. “They’ve already decided that’s happening. They are down here looking for evidence to support what the governor and CFO have already been saying. … In any $8 billion enterprise, they’re going to be able to find something they can point to. But most of the criticism will be a matter of opinion.”

DeSantis, in announcing the creation of Florida DOGE, said he was targeting “pet causes,” diversity efforts and “green new deal” programs that tackle climate change.

In his office Thursday, Furr said it would be irresponsible for a South Florida government agency to ignore the threat of climate change to the local environment.

“We’re trying to migrate from fossil fuels,” he said. Broward is also engaged in developing a “master plan” to address recycling and waste disposal for the foreseeable future.

The county’s intentions haven’t always paid off. In 2023 the company that sold 31 electric buses to the county for $34 million went bankrupt, leaving Broward with a fleet of vehicles that don’t work and can’t be repaired. The county still runs 423 non-electric vehicles.

“It’s beyond unfortunate because we were trying to do the right thing,” said Furr. The electric bus purchase was a pilot program funded partially through federal money and partially through a local transportation surtax.

Proterra, the company that made the buses, left dozens of cities holding the bag for its failures, including Miami-Dade County, which bought 62 buses for $72 million, according to the Miami Herald. Proterra was acquired by another company, Phoenix EV, in 2024. The company has promised to address the backlog but so far has not, Broward officials said.

“Whether that was wasteful is a matter of opinion,” Geller said. “It was a pilot program that didn’t work out the way we’d hoped. But it wasn’t misspending.”

Furr said it he expects criticism from the governor’s team but is open to an honest critique of local spending. “That would be healthy,” he said.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Threads.net/@rafael.olmeda.