ORLANDO, Fla. – In an exclusive interview with News 6 Anchor Matt Austin newly minted Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida, Blaise Ingoglia, faces a multitude of issues as he begins his role.

First, the state’s plan to spend $450 million on a migrant detention facility — dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — has drawn scrutiny. Critics argue the project lacks transparency and is being handed to politically connected vendors.

Ingoglia defended the spending and said the state expects federal reimbursement for housing ICE detainees.

“There’s already a mechanism for that,” he said, pointing to similar programs nationwide that pay fees on a per inmate basis.

[To watch Matt Austin’s full interview with Blaise Ingoglia, see below]

As for the vendor criticism, Ingoglia said the contracts are going through a competitive bidding process, but detailed documents were pulled offline to protect trade secrets.

Another huge issue for Floridians continues to be sky high home insurance rates. Insurance rates are beginning to stabilize — but the new CFO says rates will take time to come back down. He cites high rates across the country as other states are seeing double digit increases. However, he admits more needs to be done when it comes to keeping Insurance companies accountable.

Ingoglia insists Florida is turning the corner after years of insurance instability. Thanks to recent legal reforms, he says the cost curve is finally starting to bend downward.

Another hot topic: property taxes. Ingoglia has been an outspoken advocate for scrapping property taxes, particularly on homesteaded properties.  The proposal to eliminate property taxes raises concerns about how core services like police and fire would be funded. 

Ingoglia said police and fire will be protected.

“Government’s first job is to protect its people. Fire and police come first,” he said.

He’s pushing for zero-based budgeting at the local level, accusing cities and counties of bloated spending post-COVID, when federal relief funds were plentiful.

One of Ingoglia’s signature moves — dubbed “Doge Cuts” — is an audit initiative targeting what he calls overspending by local governments. Some critics argue this overlaps with audits already conducted by cities and counties, but Ingoglia disagrees. 

“General fund budgets have grown 60 to 120 percent over the last five years,” he claimed. “We need to go back and readjust for inflation and population.”

So far, about 12 to 15 counties and cities are on his radar, though he wouldn’t confirm if Orange County is one of them at the time of the interview. News 6 has confirmed Orange County received a DOGE letter signed by Ingoglia and Gov. Ron DeSantis.