KPRC-2 reported last night on the Harris County Republican Party’s threat of legal action if the city continues to shirk its financial reporting duties:
Houston Mayor Bill White is under scrutiny concerning last year’s city budget report, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.
The chairman of the Harris County Republican party wants to know why city leaders are already looking ahead to next year’s budget when last year’s report still has not been released.
Party officials said it’s taxpayer money and it’s time residents knew how their money was spent in 2006. But they said the mayor’s office has still not completed an audit of the annual financial statement.
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There is nearly a four-month-long grace period after the October deadline.
But the city missed that and is now in violation of local code.
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The mayor said Houstonians should expect to see results soon.
“It’s going to be out any day now. Not in response to the letter, but in response to me and the controller saying repeatedly, ‘We need to get this thing wrapped up.’ And that was an estimate that was given some days ago before I saw this letter,” White said.
Spin, spin, spin.
The fact is, the report is way overdue, and the mayor and controller are ultimately responsible.
It’s unfortunate that anyone has to threaten to sue to obtain public information that should have already been released.
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