TALLAHASSEE --- Local-government officials Tuesday offered some pushback against state efforts to cut property taxes and question city and county spending.

With a Florida House panel finishing a two-day review of property-tax issues, city and county officials defended their financial management amid Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to ask voters next year to slash taxes on homesteaded properties.

Casey Cook, chief of legislative affairs for the Florida League of Cities, called local governments “the most transparent forms of government in the state,” as municipal officials hear daily from neighbors expecting higher levels of service than what is provided in unincorporated areas.

As an example, Cook pointed to street sweepers that some people might see as waste daily cleaning streets, but they ar

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