Collier County joined dozens of counties in supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ state Department of Governmental Efficiency Team.

The Board of County Commissioners on April 22 unanimously voted to support a resolution to support the Executive Office of the Governor’s DOGE Team. The resolution, authored by Commissioner Chris Hall, appoints County Manager Amy Patterson or a designee as a liaison to assist the team.

Chris Hall

Hall said he wanted to send the resolution to the governor’s office “to let him know that we’re fully behind his efforts to eliminate any kind of wasteful government spending.

“And we actually have been doing this,” Hall said of making budget cuts and then hiring priority-based budgeting consultant ResourceX last year to trim the budget and find ways to make government more efficient. “We were doing DOGE when DOGE wasn’t cool and we’re in our third year now. … All the questions have to go to the county manager, and you have to handle the whole load.”

That remark prompted Commissioner Bill McDaniel Jr. to ask to amend the motion, pointing out commissioners usually include a designee. He suggested Hall, who agreed to assist.

DeSantis created the state team to support Elon Musk’s DOGE. President Donald Trump appointed the Tesla CEO at the start of his second administration and Musk has led White House efforts to make cuts across government departments and agencies.

It was DeSantis who first called DOGE efforts “cool” on X.

“Florida was DOGE before DOGE was cool,” DeSantis posted Feb. 24, when he issued an executive order creating Executive Officer of the Governor’s DOGE Team. “Since I took office in 2019: Florida has eliminated dozens of unnecessary boards and lifted needless regulations. We’ve saved billions for Floridians year after year, including $3.8 billion in last year’s budget. Florida has paid down 41% of state debt and increased our rainy day funds by over $9.4 billion.”

The executive order says the EOG DOGE team will operate for a one-year term to further eliminate waste within state government, save taxpayer money and ensure accountability statewide.

It will use a multipronged approach to “eliminating bureaucratic bloat” and modernizing state government to best serve residents, utilizing artificial intelligence and new technologies to identify waste and noncompliance, DeSantis said. The task force will look at spending within state agencies, universities and colleges and audit local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available county and municipal spending records to “expose bloat within local governance.”

Collier is the latest government to show its support.

Amy Patterson

Kevin Karnes, Lee County Clerk and Comptroller, created a new position, chief of government efficiency, and appointed his Chief Administrative Officer John Bodner. Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties also agreed to support the state DOGE team, with Manatee commissioners voting to create a DOGE team of residents with financial backgrounds, while the Hillsborough commissioners vote creates a liaison committee of five registered local voters with the needed expertise, including accounting, finance, auditing, human resources and information technology.

Collier’s resolution says the Board of County Commissioners supports efforts to identify unnecessary spending, create efficiencies and save taxpayer dollars, and supports eliminating unnecessary programs, misaligned grants and redundant county contracts, including those that may be inconsistent with state regulations.

“The board desires to work in good faith with the EOG DOGE Team to facilitate their mission and to conduct a comprehensive review of the county’s budget and operations,” the resolution states. “Through this partnership, the board will grant the EOG DOGE Team access to the necessary records and any physical premises to review documents and data, which may assist the county in identifying efficiencies.”

The board will recommend administrative or policy reforms to promote efficiency and maximize productivity within local government.

Through ResourceX, Collier has increased its public-private partnerships as a way of cutting spending, including at East Naples Community Park, where Pickle4 has agreed to pay $1 million to expand and improve pickleball facilities, and at Pelican Bay Community Park, where the Pelican Bay Foundation is spending $6 million to build 20 pickleball courts and make other park improvements.

The county regularly collaborates with ResourceX. The company is scheduled to make its next efficiency and cost-cutting presentation in June during a county budget workshop.