THE SPECTATOR: IT’S TIME FOR OVERSIGHT IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT

  

Before I get too far, I want to make a couple of things very clear.  First, I believe having an air ambulance available for Washington County residents in emergencies is certainly an enviable situation.  Second, I believe that allowing EMS personnel to deploy with Texas Task Force One during emergencies is an honorable thing to do.  However, neither of those programs are being operated with any oversight.

During this spring’s primary runoff election, Washington County Judge Elect Kirk Hanath said that he would welcome an independent audit of the county’s finances.  With the county’s issuance of $45 million in certificates of obligation, and the upcoming bond election for an additional $16 million, it seems to me that now would be a good time to show the voters that everything is being handled the way it should be.

One problem recently uncovered was the fumbling of filing for reimbursements from the state for EMS personnel who deploy with Texas Task Force One.  Thanks to concerned local citizen Carol Collins, it was discovered that hundreds of thousand dollars in reimbursement had not been filed with the state.  While they have now been filed and mostly reimbursed, the delay was often more than 12 months.  Apparently there was no one responsible for doing these filings, and no one monitoring or following up to make sure the reimbursements are paid.  Hanath explained that there had been a lapse in those filings after the retirement of County Emergency Coordinator Billy Ruemke.  County Judge John Durrenberger became acting Emergency Coordinator at that time.  This lapse resulted in no reimbursements from the state from last November until this June.  Hanath assured me that the problem is being fixed.

Washington County’s air ambulance program is one of the best county-run programs in the state.  But there are only two…Travis County with a population of 1.4 million, and Washington County with 38,000.  How much is this program costing taxpayers?  It’s hard to say, as the income and expense figures in the county books are difficult to decipher.  One of the favorite sayings of the commissioners is “What’s the value of a human life?”.  But it sure would be nice to at least know the true amount we are spending each year.

There have also been two theft investigations of employees in county offices in recent years.  Taken all together, there are certainly more than enough reasons to justify an independent audit of the county’s books.  A little oversight would be welcomed.  And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.