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Granbury commenters press school board to demand forensic audit, reject HCAD budget
Summary
Several Granbury residents asked the Granbury ISD board to disapprove the Hood County Appraisal District budget and to seek a forensic audit dating to 2018, saying excess funds and questionable spending could be recovered for taxing entities.
Several speakers at a Granbury ISD public-comment session urged the school board to disallow the Hood County Appraisal District’s (HCAD) recently adopted budget and to order a forensic audit of HCAD’s finances going back to 2018.
“My request is that the school board disapprove the appraisal district budget by about $500,000,” said an attendee who urged the board to push back on salary increases and other spending. He said HCAD had repeatedly underspent budgeted amounts in recent years and cited roughly $400,000 that he said required audit scrutiny.
Jim Brown, a Granbury resident, told trustees he had reviewed public records and asked the board not to approve HCAD’s 2025 budget. “I would like to ask that the board take action to do a forensic audit of the HCAD and not approve their 2025 budget for HCAD,” Brown said, and presented figures he said showed $2.8 million in excess funds available to the 11 taxing entities from 2018 through 2023.
Speaker accounts at the meeting alleged HCAD had spent about $500,000 on pension plans and roughly $400,000 on architectural work for a building that was never built; they said prior controller reviews found governance and taxpayer-assistance weaknesses. Commenters urged coordination with the city council and county officials to demand a forensic audit and to pursue errors-and-omissions claims to recover funds.
Board leadership acknowledged the public concern but said trustees had only just received the approved HCAD budget on the 13th and planned to review it before their next meeting on the 16th. The board president said staff and trustees would examine the budget and follow up with the community.
The commenters asked the board to use its representation on HCAD (as the district appoints three of five HCAD board members, according to one speaker) to press for transparency and to ensure excess funds are returned to the taxing entities, including the school district.
No formal board action to disapprove HCAD’s budget or to order a forensic audit was recorded at the meeting; trustees said they would consider the item at an upcoming meeting after internal review.
The board’s next scheduled meeting was cited as the date when trustees expected to take further steps on the matter.
