by BRAD ROLLINS
Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe says her office does not have the manpower or money to conduct a broad, open-ended investigation of the city’s finances as the Kyle City Council asked her to do last week.
“At this time, I’ve seen no evidence of any illegal activity. ... I think there is an investigation ongoing, or should be, with the city as far as doing some kind of audit. … Certainly, if they find any evidence of any criminal activity, we would definitely take a look at it,” Tibbe said.
She said law enforcement agencies such as the Hays County Sheriff’s Office typically conduct investigations, not the District Attorney’s office. And the sheriff’s office doesn’t have forensic accountants on the payroll, either, Tibbe said.
“We just don’t have those types of people on staff for those kinds of investigations,” Tibbe said.
City Manager Lanny Lambert has said that previous management appears to have used fund balances and money borrowed through voter-approved general obligation bonds to pay for capital projects and debt service without apparent authorization from the city council, four of whom have since been replaced through election. Lambert said he doesn’t think money was stolen, but that the previous city manager may have acted outside of his authority.
Lambert said he is still assessing whether the state attorney general might examine whether state laws limiting city managers’ discretion to spend money without the council’s authorization were violated. He said the city would also examine how much it would cost to conduct a forensic audit.
“No one’s getting excited about it. I guess maybe there’s a feeling that it’s old news,” Lambert said.
The city council has proposed a tax rate next fiscal year of 48.45 cents per $100 in property value, an increase of 6.9 cents over the current tax rate of 41.54 cents.
The council’s budget deliberations were scheduled to continue with a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 24. The council also has a special budget meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6 and will discuss the budget at its regular meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 13.
