“We know what happened; we need somebody independent to verify that. More importantly after that is getting fresh eyes to say how we make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
– Mayor Kevin Cole
An independent firm has been hired to look into the City of Pearland’s budgeting process, particularly into the causes of a $10 million budget shortfall uncovered in November.
“We wanted to get this done sooner,” Mayor Kevin Cole said shortly before the council approved the contract Feb. 13. “The hard part was finding independents, finding a group that hadn’t worked for the city, hadn’t worked for Harris County, hadn’t worked for Brazoria County or any of the other entities (involved.”
The error overstating property values within the city has been attributed to incorrect tax calculations included in a Harris County Appraisal District worksheet that was sent to Brazoria County. Pearland city staff used that worksheet to create the city’s budget and tax rate, creating a revenue shortfall.
The city’s already-adopted general fund was overbudget by $4.7 million and debt service fund by $5.6 million. City council and staff have since adopted budget amendments to help shore up the differences that include dipping into reserves, reallocating federal funds and reducing payments into its vehicle fleet fund.
“We know what happened; we need somebody independent to verify that,” Cole said. “Not just us saying it. More importantly after that is getting fresh eyes to say how we make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Council voted unanimously Feb. 13 to award the $36,750 contract to Keller, Texas-based Strategic Government Resources, a company that specializes in management, training and recruitment for government entities. The firm will auditor the city’s overall tax calculation process and make best practice recommendations.
“I’m happy to finally get this project moving,” Councilman Tony Carbone said. “It’s a good team with relevant experience.”
The contract is below $50,000, meaning city policy did not require it to be an agenda item approved by council.
“We wanted to make sure we’re keeping with transparency with this from the moment we found it out,” Cole said.
