Update: 5:06 p.m. June 28
Two former Travis County Tax Office employees were indicted by a grand jury today, according to a press release by the Travis County District Attorney's Office. Cathy Lynn Wilson was indicted on one count of theft by public servant and two counts involving the use of false name, false information and forgery. Shell Kenneth Prieto-Reese was indicted on one count of theft by public servant, according to the document.
Additionally, Eulalio Hernandez, Jr., known as Gerard Hernandez, was indicted on three counts involving the use of false name, false information and forgery. The county did not specify Hernandez's relationship to the tax office.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Posted: 3:13 p.m. June 26
Travis County Tax Assessor Collector Bruce Elfant, along with two members of his staff – Joe Marshall, chief deputy and Monica Blackwell, the new motor vehicle division chief – provided an update on tax office operations during the Travis County Commissioners Court meeting on June 26. Against the backdrop of an ongoing motor vehicle fraud investigation at the county tax office, Elfant announced sweeping changes to personnel, the status of satellite offices and implementation of new policies and procedures.
“This has been just a horrible situation for our customers and for our employees,” Elfant said. “We want to get back to where we’re doing things the way that we need to be doing them.”
Elfant said he placed 19 employees on administrative leave “out of an abundance of caution,” immediately following the May 18 arrests. Since then, nine employees have been cleared to come back to work. Ten employees, including the four who were arrested in May, will not be returning to the tax office, he said.
Stanley Wilson, the former director of the motor vehicle department, is no longer with the tax office, Elfant said, although he was unable to elaborate further due to the ongoing investigation.
The tax office is facing a severe lack of personnel. For the past year, the motor vehicle division has experienced about a 30 percent turnover rate, Elfant said. Before May 18, six positions were vacant. There are 15 open positions right now, he said.
Blackwell said the tax office is working to fill all positions within 90 days.
“We are very committed to getting our office back to where it needs to be,” Elfant said. “It’s very frustrating that it’s taking as long as it is. But it’s far more important that we get this right than we get this [done quickly].”
All four of the county’s satellite offices remain closed at this time. Elfant said the goal is to re-open the north satellite office, located at 15822 Foothill Farms Loop, Pflugerville, by July 25. The Oak Hill office, at 8656 West Hwy. 71, Austin, will likely be the second to reopen, he said.
Elfant said the aim is to provide clients with the centrally-located main tax office on 5501 Airport Blvd., Austin, plus a northeast and southwest satellite location, “to bring a little bit more convenience to our customers and relieve the huge volume of customers at the main office.”
Elfant expressed uncertainty as to whether and if the southeast location at 4011 McKinney Falls Parkway, Austin, and the east location at 4705 Heflin Lane Austin, will reopen. As part of the overhaul in operations, he said the tax office is considering a change in the satellite office model, and a tighter structure with fewer offices could be on the horizon.
The county is conducting an inventory of all license plates, reinstalling computers, checking cameras and other security measures, assigning supervisors and considering a centralized cashier and cash handling policy to prevent fraud.
“The goal for our office is to be completely transparent,” Marshall said. “It’s our responsibility to oversee these things on the front end. We’re trying to protect county assets.”
In addition to these measures, Blackwell said the county is in the early phase of implementing new policies and procedures. She emphasized efforts to improve communication, with daily management-level meetings to address issues as they arise. Blackwell said the office is cross-training supervisors and encouraging job rotation for greater transparency and skill building. Trainings around suspicious transactions are in the works along with policy changes, such as only allowing supervisors to void or modify transactions.
The commissioners expressed a few concerns publicly, before consulting with the county attorney in an executive session. Commissioner Brigid Shea said she wanted to know about the county’s ability to recover lost revenue. Structural issues–staffing and supervision–were among the concerns mentioned by Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion.
“Procedures are paramount,” said Commissioner Gerald Daugherty via videoconference. “The taxpayer is the one that ultimately is going to feel the brunt of this.”
