By the end of the year, the county added nearly $3 million to reserves instead of withdrawing $7 million.<\/p>\n
It led to a war of words.<\/p>\n
Commissioners Michael Dalby, Cary Shaw and Rackler \u2013 are \u201cupset\u201d with Williams. A fourth, Corley, stopped trusting what he\u2019s been told. County Judge Curtis Parrish has been supportive of Williams.<\/p>\n
Williams told LubbockLights.com<\/a>, \u201cThey\u2019re angry? I\u2019m angry. I got a good audit report. I have a good budget. And because they decided to walk out, then now my stuff is in question? No, sir. No.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the disagreement between commissioners and the auditor is using some numbers that fluctuate during the year \u2013 investments are one example. They also disagree on how property taxes are figured under a no-new-revenue rate.<\/p>\n Shaw said, \u201cI went to the board of judges [which appoints the auditor] after our meeting [with Williams and the outside audit firm in February] \u2026 because our auditor made a statement in that meeting that she underestimates investments intentionally because if she didn\u2019t, we\u2019d want to spend it every year. That\u2019s not her job. Her job is to tell us how much money we have available to do the work.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if his complaint was in writing, Shaw explained it was a verbal complaint to one of the district judges \u2013 not in writing.<\/p>\n Rackler said, \u201cWhen you\u2019re trying to figure out a budget and not be wasteful of taxpayers\u2019 dollars, I believe you should put all funds that go into the equation as possible income.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams responded, saying, \u201cIf I was to budget $6 million the last couple of years as recurring [investment] revenue, we would be spending that in salaries and new hires. And then I\u2019d have to take it back when the economy does not meet that expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaw asked, \u201cIf we can\u2019t rely on her to get accurate numbers, then what are we supposed to do?\u201d<\/p>\n Williams took issue with that \u2013 especially on property tax revenue. She emphatically said she accurately projected the numbers.<\/p>\n \u201cI budgeted $109,732,000. We received $109,087,000. So, that\u2019s a difference of $645,000. That\u2019s pretty close,\u201d Williams said of the less than 1 percent difference.<\/p>\n Corley said, \u201cI\u2019ve done this for so long that I\u2019ve heard all these lies, and I don\u2019t even look at the numbers. I just look at people\u2019s eyes when they tell me what they\u2019re trying to do. And that\u2019s how I know if they\u2019re telling the truth or not.\u201d<\/p>\n By the numbers<\/p>\n The county did better than expected in the months after budget meetings in late summer 2024. The outside audit showed the county added almost $3 million to its reserves instead of taking out $7 million \u2013 a $10 million difference.<\/p>\n The sheriff spent $2.4 million less than budgeted.<\/p>\n The IT department spent $1.8 million less than budgeted.<\/p>\n The county received nearly $6 million of investment income not budgeted in advance, Williams told LubbockLights.com in her interview.<\/p>\n The county had other good financial results, not connected to the disagreements between commissioners and Williams.<\/p>\n The county\u2019s \u201cnet position\u201d \u2013 when all the income, expenses, assets, debts and liabilities are considered \u2013 was $50 million better at the end of the 24\/25 budget year than the previous year.<\/p>\n Much of the increase in net position was expected, for example, the county making payments on debts and receiving a $10 million grant for the Texas Anti-Gang Center building.<\/p>\n Unrestricted cash and investments went up $330,000 during the fiscal year \u2013 ending at $44.2 million. The unassigned fund balance (what most people would call \u201creserves\u201d) ended at $58.4 million \u2013 an increase of $2.7 million.<\/p>\n Property tax revenue was up $4.8 million.<\/p>\n What this means going forward<\/p>\n For Dalby, the problem wasn\u2019t the numbers. It was the surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we got this presentation, I was a little shocked. You probably could have picked my jaw up off the floor. And I was pleasantly surprised. I was happy with what I saw. And, you know, we\u2019ll push forward with the no-new-revenue rate seeing as how the county is in much better financial shape than what we thought,\u201d Dalby said.<\/p>\n The current budget (2025-26) did not include employee pay raises because county departments were told to cut back.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could have done employee raises. You could have funded a couple things that we thought that we could not fund. And is that frustrating? Yes, it\u2019s frustrating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dalby wants to restore funding for volunteer firefighters, do more road maintenance and revisit employee pay.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to the State of Texas, \u2026 JPs [justices of the peace] and the constables have to come out of the courthouse and move to their respective precincts,\u201d Dalby said.<\/p>\n Dalby called it a massive budget impact in the next few years. In addition to that, the county has several buildings like 916 Main Street needing renovation or repair.<\/p>\n Fight about property taxes<\/p>\n Commissioners were happy the outside audit found an increase of more than $4.8 million in property tax revenue.<\/p>\n But they were not happy to have been told during budget negotiations that the no-new-revenue rate literally means no new revenue regardless of new construction.<\/p>\n Shaw looked into the issue, saying both Williams and Parrish are wrong about the benefit of new construction on the tax rolls when the no-new-revenue rate is adopted.<\/p>\n \u201cA county that\u2019s growing should be able to live off of new growth. And so no-new-revenue with new construction should finance the new growth,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n Williams said, \u201cWhen you\u2019re doing the calculations for the no-new-revenue rate, they identify what the new construction is, and then they subtract it from your current year total taxable value.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have always said that we\u2019re a growing county, and we can\u2019t make it on the no-new-revenue rate,\u201d Williams added.<\/p>\n Corley disagreed.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can run Lubbock County on the no-new-revenue rate, and this is proof. \u2026 I cannot tell you how many people have called me and said, \u2018Just don\u2019t raise my taxes,\u2019\u201d Corley said.<\/p>\n How does the no-new-revenue rate work?<\/p>\n According to state law: The no-new-revenue tax rate will raise the same amount of property tax revenue from the same properties in both the preceding tax year and the current tax year.<\/p>\n Williams provided a copy of the simplified math formula to LubbockLights.com \u2013 which comes from the Texas Comptroller\u2019s office. When we plugged in the 2024\/25 numbers for Lubbock County in a spreadsheet, the formula showed new construction adds to the total revenue.<\/p>\n The simplified formula did not take into account agricultural exemptions, homestead exemptions, tax ceilings, tax increment finance districts or other details.<\/p>\n \u2018We didn\u2019t fund out of reserves\u2019<\/p>\n Rackler said he took a took a lot of criticism for the walkout \u2013 amid public claims he was spending down the reserves by insisting on the no-new-revenue rate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t fund out of the reserves,\u201d Rackler said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the long run, we ended up with more money left than we were told we were going to have. And we did not use a penny out of the reserves to fund the 24\/25 budget \u2013 which was a walkout. \u2026 I do believe that it was the right thing to do.\u201d Rackler said.<\/p>\n Corley said, \u201cIt didn\u2019t hurt anything. The county\u2019s still running. Everything\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaw said, \u201cAfter being told the doom and gloom \u2013 we\u2019re borrowing our kids into oblivion \u2013 we did not have to \u2026 transfer anything from reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n Dalby said it will be harder to persuade him the county doesn\u2019t have enough money in future budget talks.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, 100 percent, because, if I go to the mat for a certain tax rate or a certain philosophy moving forward, I want to know that the numbers are close,\u201d Dalby said.<\/p>\n Asked if this circumstance damages the credibility of the auditor, Corley answered, \u201cYeah. Yeah, it does. But there\u2019s a lot of stuff that I\u2019ve been told over the years that I didn\u2019t believe in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n Parrish praises and defends Williams<\/p>\n We reached out to County Judge Curtis Parrish, but he was out of town. However, he had high praise for Williams and her staff when the outside audit was released during a commissioners meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to commend \u2026 Kathy [Williams] and the entire staff who are sitting here with us today for the job that they do,\u201d Parrish said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur auditor\u2019s office is known now nationally and even internationally as being one of the best accounting offices for a governmental entity in the entire nation. I want you to let that soak in for just a second. We get national awards, not just state awards,\u201d Parrish said.<\/p>\n Kristy Frye, a partner with Bolinger Segars Gilbert and Moss, which did the outside audit, said they found no problems with their annual review, the county was in good shape financially \u2013 better than expected.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were no reported findings. No questioned costs, no evidence of concern in there. So, yes, everything\u2019s good. \u2026 It\u2019s the best report that we can render,\u201d Frye said during the most recent Commissioners Court meeting.<\/p>\n Parrish said the task gets harder all the time.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some reason, there\u2019s people in Washington and Austin that feel like they have to justify their jobs by giving us new things that we have to do,\u201d Parrish said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a constant moving target for Kathy and the staff to keep up with all the new stuff or changes that are coming in. \u2026 I\u2019m very proud of the work that you guys do and I don\u2019t think we praise you enough and thank you enough for what you do,\u201d Parrish said with Williams listening just a few feet away.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the best. It is the gold standard or even the platinum standard when it comes to what we do here in Lubbock County \u2013 as far as taking care of the people\u2019s money,\u201d Parrish added.<\/p>\n Williams said, \u201cOf course I agree that we have an award-winning office. We work really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Auditor plays a constitutional role<\/p>\n According to the Texas Association of County Auditors<\/a>, the auditor is the \u201cfiscal officer \u2026 with oversight responsibility of all financial books and records of all county offices.\u201d<\/p>\n The association website said, \u201cThe Local Government Code dictates, \u2018The county auditor shall see to the strict enforcement of the law governing county finances.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBoth the county auditor and Commissioners Court are required, by law, to approve or reject claims for disbursement of county funds. Simply put, the integrity of county financial administration is entrusted to a dual control system of \u2018checks and balances.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The auditor is not chosen by the Commissioners Court but instead appointed by a panel of state district judges.<\/p>\n The press conference<\/p>\n In February, Shaw and Rackler talked to the local news media even though the audit was not yet officially released to the public.<\/p>\n Rackler talked to Williams before contacting the media.<\/p>\n \u201cShe wasn\u2019t in a very good mood because I told her I was fixing to make it public. \u2026 It\u2019s information that the taxpayers of Lubbock County need to know. I think people need to know that we are not pulling money out of reserves,\u201d Rackler said. <\/p>\n Shaw said, \u201cThis information was public information anyway. Anybody could have had it. And I don\u2019t know why it would be a secret.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams thought they missed the point.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have not come and asked me why I thought the press conference was wrong, why I thought it was misleading,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you have recurring revenue to give pay raises? And the answer was no. Okay. Do you have recurring revenue to hire new sheriff deputies? And the answer was no,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n And that was the point. She said her projections were dependable.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand why you get a good audit report, and the focus is on your budget, which also is not bad, but I guess that\u2019s politics,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n Add to that her sense of frustration with the negotiations leading to the 2024\/25 budget.<\/p>\n \u201cElected officials say things that they know aren\u2019t true. It was a very difficult year. And it was not productive in my opinion,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n Although there was not a walkout this most recent cycle, negotiations for 2025\/26 were not any easier.<\/p>\n![\"Kathy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/kathy_williams_809x1078.jpg\")
Kathy Williams (foreground) with Cary Shaw and Eddie McBride (background) during a March 2026 meeting of the Local Government Corporation. Credit: Staff photo.<\/p>\n![\"Kristy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/kristy_frye_at_commisioners_1075x1433.jpg\")
Kristy Frye presents an audit to the Lubbock County Commissioners Court. Credit: Staff photo.<\/p>\n
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