State Audit Follow-Up: 6 of 8 Findings Still Unfixed
Take Action
- Read the State Audit to see the official findings for yourself.
- Sign the Petition for Accountability calling for the Mayor’s resignation in light of the state’s findings and public testimony.
- Share with neighbors on Facebook, X, and Nextdoor.
📊 Audit Highlights at a Glance
Six of eight findings remain unresolved.
Nearly every major issue identified in last year’s state audit is still uncorrected or only partially corrected.$103,000 additional Penny Sales Tax funds were spent illegally.
State auditors found restricted infrastructure surtax dollars used to pay consultants for projects unrelated to public facilities—a clear violation of Florida law.Wastewater violations and reporting failures persist.
The City continues to operate its wastewater facilities out of compliance with FDEP rules and has yet to file required state reports.Mayor McCann misled the Legislature.
Just one day after receiving the audit’s findings, the Mayor told state lawmakers that City leadership was functioning well and that no changes were needed—statements the state’s report directly contradicts.
A new Florida Auditor General’s report confirms that the City of Winter Springs has failed to correct six of eight findings from the state’s 2023 audit. The report provides a sobering assessment of ongoing problems across nearly every area of city management, including wastewater operations, financial oversight, and transparency.
While the audit acknowledges minor policy improvements, the overall conclusion is clear: the City’s leadership has not implemented the reforms needed to restore accountability or public trust.
Among the most serious findings, the Auditor General reported that the City continues to violate Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) rules at both wastewater treatment facilities. Required state reports on effluent discharge and reclaimed water use were never submitted, leaving regulators and residents in the dark about what’s flowing into local waterways.
The follow-up also exposed deep and ongoing problems in how City Hall handles money and public information. The City still has no policies requiring major spending items or contracts to be discussed in open session, meaning controversial or high-dollar matters can still be quietly passed through the consent agenda with little or no public debate. The Auditor General warned that this “absence of formal policies and procedures… may lead to reduced transparency and limited public input in the future.”
Equally troubling, the state found that $103,000 of restricted Penny Sales Tax funds were spent illegally on consulting and engineering services unrelated to public infrastructure projects. These included consulting work tied to private homes and hurricane reimbursement paperwork—uses that violate Florida Statutes governing how surtax funds can be spent. The City never recorded these as loans, nor took formal action to authorize or correct them. The report bluntly concludes that this spending was contrary to state law.
Beyond finances, the audit found that Winter Springs continues to suffer from leadership instability and a toxic management environment, with frequent turnover among department heads and interference from elected officials undermining staff morale and performance. Though the City described these issues as improving, the report’s findings tell a different story: a city government that remains unstable, reactive, and without clear direction.
Despite all of this, Mayor Kevin McCann testified before the Seminole County Legislative Delegation just one day after receiving the state’s findings, insisting that the City’s leadership is functioning well and arguing against an effort to let residents vote on reforms. Those statements now stand in stark contrast to the official record.
The state has done its part by documenting the failures. Now, it’s time for residents to understand the facts and decide what accountability should look like in Winter Springs.