DeSantis’ net worth up 3% in year as governor

TALLAHASSEE Gov. Ron DeSantis saw his net worth increase nearly 3% in his first year residing in the governor’s mansion.

DeSantis reported a net worth of $291,449 as of Dec. 31, 2019, up from $283,605 at the end of 2018, according to a new financial disclosure posted on the Florida Commission on Ethics website.

Meanwhile, all three members of the state Cabinet — Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried — retained million-dollar financial portfolios.

State officials faced a Wednesday deadline to file updated disclosure reports, which typically detail their finances as of the end of 2019. Late filers have until September before they face fines — $25 a day, with a cap at $1,500.

The forms require disclosure of an estimated net worth, assets valued at more than $1,000, liabilities of more than $1,000 and information about income.

DeSantis’ report said his $130,000 state salary was his only income, while his assets included $97,770 in a government thrift savings plan, a type of retirement savings and investment plan, and $205,500 in a USAA Federal Savings bank account.

In 2018, DeSantis made $116,000 from his U.S. House seat, which he gave up in September of that year after his gubernatorial-primary victory. The state also paid DeSantis $15,297 in 2018 while he was governor-elect in the transition period. Gone from DeSantis’ new report is a Ponte Vedra Beach home that he sold in March 2019 for $460,000, according to St. Johns County property records. That helped build the USAA savings account, which had been at $41,532 in December 2018.

In the report he filed for 2018, DeSantis listed the value of the Ponte Vedra Beach home at $450,000 but also said $263,100 remained on its loan.

DeSantis also reduced his Sallie Mae student loan by $7,670 during 2019, with a remaining balance of $25,830 as of Dec. 31.

Patronis, elected to a full term in November 2018 as chief financial officer after being appointed to the post in 2017 by then-Gov. Rick Scott, reported his net worth fell from about $6.63 million in 2018 to $6.49 million last year.

A former state House member, Patronis’ family has long run a popular restaurant in Panama City Beach, which is part of a region that spent most of 2019 recovering from Hurricane Michael.

His stock in Patronis Brothers, Inc. fell from $2.58 million to $2.26 million, while interests in Patronis Brothers Partnership and Jimmy T. Patronis Family Ltd Partnership dropped a combined $29,069.

The Patronis Brothers Partnership paid him $17,899 last year, up from $13,138 a year earlier when he also drew $26,237 from Patronis Brothers Inc. He also didn’t list any direct income in 2019 from the-family-owned Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant, which provided him with $37,684 a year earlier. Patronis was also paid $126,749 from the state in 2019.

In his new report, Patronis listed the value of his Bay County home at $479,507, down from $489,601 a year earlier, and a Tallahassee condominium at $37,116, up from $35,054.

He also listed ownership in five other Northwest Florida parcels with a combined value of just over $366,312, down from $367,864. Gone from his property portfolio are a trio of vacant lots in Lynn Haven that had been appraised at $235,875 in 2018.

Jim Turner writes for the News Service of Florida.