-
Payroll Change Requests
-
Academic Transcripts
-
Warnings
We are asking What’s Wrong With The Montgomery County Auditor?
In Part One we revisited the Annual Report presentation of the County Auditor which in spite of being outright panned by Montgomery County’s leading daily newspaper was really nothing to be ashamed of, we also took a look at GFOA Certification mentioned to Commissioners during the presentation to see if they held any objective meaning in terms of evaluating the County Auditors competence and performance. There we saw how this county ranked high among peers and stood out compared to counties with equal or greater budgets or population and reasoned the continuity of these Financial Reporting Certificated being unbroken since this County Auditor’s appointment signified competent execution of auditor responsibilities and quality of work product.
In Part Two we questioned the assertion that “It should be a requirement that the County Auditor is a licensed CPA” citing National Association of State Boards of Accountancy own disappointing Top 5 Reasons to be a CPA. They are disappointing because they are so shallow, subjective and irrelevant to the real mastery of the skills and know how of the auditing function that we want our County Auditor to possess.
We also presented a heretofore ignored section of the Yellow Book, Chapter 3.71 that clarifies the question of what is required academically for a County Auditor – to wit “Competence is derived from a blending of education and experience.
Today, as promised we take a look into the Official Personnel File of the Montgomery County Auditor Phyllis Martin.
Payroll Change Requests
A major part of the contents of the Martin File were Payroll Change Requests (PCR). One for each year in fact. Martin, it turns out has earned annual salary starting at #40,000.00 in 2003 on up to $145,563.60 approved for 2018.
The PCRs were approved by the County Auditor up until Martin became County Auditor in 2007. Contrary to popular opinion the County Auditor Salary is not set by Commissioners but solely the authority of the Board of District Judges.
Accordingly, Martin’s PCR’s are signed by Judge Kathleen Hamilton.
In fact District judges were first granted authority to set the county auditor’s salary in 1941 and the legislature removed authority of commissioners court to approve the county auditor’s salary set by the district judges in 1955.
Academic Transcripts
Academic Transcripts are a key part of the Personnel File of County Auditor Phyllis Martin. We discussed the unfair and misleading way Martin’s actual academic qualifications were never discussed while bashing her for not being a CPA! A prized certification don’t forget, for which you can read the incredible TOP 5 REASONS for acquiring, straight from the professional horses mouth on the interwebs.
Martin’s transcripts reveal she enrolled in Advance Placement classes, was included in the Dean’s list and graduated with the special honor CUM LAUDE. martin receive internship credit and served as an accounting intern for one semester in the office of Congressman Kevin Brady in 1999. ( Editors Note: Well before we realized he did not really believe in term limits)
Martin was awarded two degrees by the University of Houston in 2002
Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting
Master of Science in Accountancy
Her core studies included auditing, statistical analysis, oil & gas accounting, tax accounting,government accounting and administration.
One unusual class taken by Martin , that is SOC 3312 – The Sociology of Deviance has probably proved invaluable on the job given our poor history as voters in Montgomery County .
Warnings
There is a an unexplained absence of derogatory records in the Martin File.
Again, found published on the interwebs is this –
On more than one occasion, the Board of District Judges, who appointed Martin and are to oversee her conduct, have warned her about avoiding entanglements in political activities inside the County government.
Countycitizen has submitted several open records requests, we find no trace of a warning anywhere.
Observation: Ground Zero, The Poster Child, The exemplar, The ultimate, The very embodiment of politics in action is the Montgomery County Courts and its Judges so what exactly can the above quotation possibly be referring to?
Stay tuned for What’s Wrong With The Montgomery County Auditor? Part 4. where we will learn what CPA’s think of County Auditor Phyllis Martin.
