Montgomery County looks to new policy for outgoing elected officials

Ritch Wheeler won election to the seat in 2024 and was sworn in Jan. 1.

However, County Auditor Rakesh Pandey said Noack used $1.19 million in carryover funds—which are not part of the commissioners' budgets—from 2023-24 through a series of items on the court's consent agenda in November and December that obligated the Precinct 3 commissioner's office to finish payments on projects with completed work, such as turn-lane improvements. Carter said the carryover funds were left over from the FY 2023-24 budget cycle that had yet to be spent or allocated in the current fiscal year.

"We still have open [purchasing orders] that we're going to have to pay that are going to push us even further," Wheeler said. "So what we're trying to do, quite honestly, is just scrape money from anywhere we can to try to get through the year."

Diving in deeper

The proposal to add a policy preventing officials from moving county assets when vacating an elected post came after officials said office furniture and equipment was removed from or transferred from the Precinct 3 office before Jan. 1.

The policy, proposed by Keough, would limit the amount an elected official could spend without requiring approval from the court, including:

• Operations or capital projects: $20,000
• Office purchases: $1,500
• Travel expenses: $500

In their words

"I, in no way, shape or form, think that the budget office did anything wrong," Wheeler said.

"We can't even purchase fuel for that amount of money," Gray said. "So the piece that I do agree with is no transfers of equipment or furniture should leave that precinct, which represents and works in that precinct, but to put a cap on a commissioner or public servant who is maintaining roads, maintaining drainage, maintaining the traffic signals in the area; you can't do it."

"I'm not going to be punished because of somebody else who did something wrong. I'm just not going to do it. We know what we’ve got to do. We know how we're supposed to do it, and that's what we need to do," Riley said

Community Impact did not immediately receive a response to a request for comment sent to Noack at an email address on file.

What's next?

While no policy was approved, commissioners did agree to have Keough and Gray lead the effort to draft a new policy, which will be brought back before court at a future date.