Galveston council orders interim safeguards on hotel-occupancy-tax spending after auditor reports preliminary findings

Galveston City Council on Feb. 19 voted to require interim reporting safeguards for hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) expenditures after the city auditor presented preliminary findings from a conflict-of-interest audit of the Park Board.

The council approved a motion, introduced by Council member Peretta, directing staff to implement a policy requiring 30-day electronic expense reports showing expenditures, parties involved and the purpose of the expenditures for acceptance at regularly scheduled council meetings. The motion was approved by the four council members in attendance: (names recorded as cast at the meeting) Rob, Rollins, Peretta and Mayor Brown.

The action followed a status briefing from City Auditor Glenn Bulgarini, who told the council the conflict-of-interest audit is not yet complete but that auditors had identified two items of concern in the work to date: a disbursement of $3,200 to the spouse of a Park Board employee, and evidence that a Park Board-affiliated individual had established a business…