WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Some elected officials are starting to second-guess how tax dollars are being used for disaster relief with so many unknowns.
It’s a tough balance of wanting to be good stewards of public money, but also trying to be prepared in case things get worse. This conversation came up during Tuesday’s Williamson County Commissioners Court meeting. A few county commissioners have urged Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell to pump the brakes on spending during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Can we discuss this…why did we choose travel trailers?” said Williamson County Commissioner Terry Cook during Tuesday’s meeting. “I believe you ran with this, Judge.”
Commissioner Terry Cook is questioning an $18K contract for RV’s to offer emergency personnel a place to stay away from others during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The intent of the travel trailers was to prevent the virus from spreading. We just wanted to ensure that eight or nine of our county government operations had a secure area,” said Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell. “Not only an area to stay, but one that would secure them from potentially getting sick. I don’t believe the intent is to go beyond the 30-day lease agreement.”
The contract agreement with the RV company was made on April 3. County commissioners agreed to terminate that contract by the time the contract ends on April 30.
“There has to be something other than I have a feeling. There has to be a model. I don’t know that I’ve gotten a really good answer,” said Williamson County Commissioner Russ Boles. “I know the coronavirus is out there, but I don’t know that I have enough information. What is driving our spending? I need something more than, it feels good or it looks right.”
A second item raised a red flag during Tuesday’s meeting. That was a $13K contract for refrigerators to store bodies of those who have died during the coronavirus. Four people have died in Williamson County due to the coronavirus. Judge Bill Gravell says the refrigerator option was chosen because of a funeral home backlog.
All commissioners agreed, however, that items needed to be brought to their attention prior to receiving the red stamp of approval.
“We need to have a say, before we go spend it,” said Commissioner Valerie Covey.
Williamson County set aside $3.5M for its COVID-19 response fund. Commissioner Cook urged Gravell to be careful when making executive decisions during this disaster.
“The judge can and has the ability to sign off on things, but I feel like we need to look at what’s beyond the horizon,” said Commissioner Cook. “County judges have enormous powers during disasters. I said golly, he’s just having too good of a time. He comes to us after the fact, and said please understand this. I gently opened the door about this happening during commissioners court.”
Judge Gravell says he was using multiple models from the University of Texas, and other sources to gauge what would be needed.
“Perhaps we over prepared, and that was the decision made at the time,” said Judge Bill Gravell.
Now that decision makers have had some breathing room, they’re hoping to settle any miscommunication and not spend the full $3.5M.
“Everyone was in hurry mode, trying to decide what to do,” said Commissioner Covey. “It’s complicated. We have a process. The five of us together are the decision makers.”
The county does have the opportunity to get a portion of the money that’s already been spent back. There’s $1.3M in federal aid available. Judge Gravell says he will be placing that on the agenda moving forward to figure out how to recoup the money.
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