Tax office audit back in commissioners court

The big news at Monday’s meeting of the Milam County Commissioners Court was that Milam County/District Attorney Bill Torrey had decided to release the entire special audit of the Milam County tax assessor-collector office.
The special audit was ordered following former Tax Assessor-Collector Kolette Morgan’s no contest plea to a charge of attempted theft by a public servant.
The important news of the audit’s release by the attorney’s office, however, was tempered by the decision of Milam County Judge David Barkemeyer not to release the special audit until he, the commissioners, and new interim Tax Assessor-Collector Sherry Mueck met to decide what should be released to the public. Barkemeyer indicated that the special meeting would be scheduled for next week and that the decisions of what not to release would be made in a closed executive session.
It was made public that the special audit report contains a review of the initial investigation’s findings and recommendations to improve both the operation and security of the tax office. Barkemeyer wanted Mueck to have more time to formulate responses to the recommendations before she met with the commissioners court.
Among the other items on the agenda was the new “Flood Damage Prevention Court Order” stating that the Texas Legislature delegated the responsibility of adopting regulations to minimize flood losses to the commissioners court.
For full details, see this week’s print or digital edition.