Ellis County judge: audit shows underestimation, not missing $20 million; forensic audit sought

The county judge updated the court on findings from an external limited examination and an internal review: the adopted FY26 budget underestimated tax revenue by roughly $6 million per the external audit, while an internal review of actual collections identified about $8.3 million of additional collections and roughly $8 million of delinquent accounts — totaling about $16.3 million when combined. The judge said there is no indication that money is missing and the court has begun seeking proposals for a forensic audit to clarify historical budgeting and reporting practices.