New Facts: FDEM reports $1.5B deficit

On Sept. 11, Florida’s emergency management division delivered a spending report warning the state’s disaster fund could end the fiscal year with a worst‑case $1.5 billion deficit. Within the hour, a legislative panel moved roughly a quarter‑billion dollars to pay overdue bills, including about $188 million for immigration detention contracts tied to Alligator Alcatraz, $62 million for past hurricane recovery, and roughly $8 million for National Guard staffing at the Baker County site.

The report lists 592 unpaid invoices worth $417 million from last year’s immigration operations, and sets a conservative projection of another $500 million for such costs through mid‑2027. Florida has received $84.6 million of the $608 million it expects back from the federal government for immigration work, leaving $523.8 million outstanding.

The state has promised at least $1.4 billion to vendors for building and running Alligator Alcatraz and the Baker County Deportation Depot, and as of June 30 just $6.4 million remained in the disaster fund. The largest unpaid tabs include $93 million to the portable‑toilet firm Doodie Calls and at least $68 million to IRG Global for work largely at the now closed Alligator Alcatraz, though updated contracts put IRG’s outstanding closer to $214 million.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources