Houston Council Delays M Airport Audit Vote

Houston Council Delays $2M Airport Audit Vote

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Houston City Council delayed a vote on a nearly $2 million contract for an Ernst and Young audit of the Houston Airport System Wednesday after a council member raised concerns about transparency. Source

Council Members Raise Concerns

Councilman Edward Pollard put the kibosh on the vote, saying he wants to ensure whatever comes from a potential audit is done transparently. We’re going to be spending millions of taxpayer dollars. We need to be getting that information back in a reasonable amount of time and understanding if this is necessary or not, Pollard said. Councilman Julian Ramirez voiced similar concerns, stating, In the interest of transparency and good government, I think it’s important that council be made aware of what these reports reveal when we pay a lot of money for that.

Past Audit Spending

The concerns come amid a history of significant spending on Ernst and Young. In May 2024, the city authorized the expenditure of $580,000 for an Ernst and Young review of the city’s financial records. The city later approved an increase of more than that initial sum in the months that followed and also consented to compensate the firm close to $4 million for assistance services linked to the audit’s conclusions.

Pollard Seeks More Audit Clarity

Pollard, Ramirez and City Controller Chris Hollins indicated on Wednesday that they have not yet received all of the outcomes. If you’re reaching out and wanting to do work on behalf of the taxpayers of the City of Houston, they deserve to get those responses quickly. And as of right now, that doesn’t seem to be the case, Pollard said. He mentioned he intended to use the following week to obtain further details on a possible audit of the Houston Airport System before moving forward with a vote. The airport audit vote is set to be presented to the council once more the following week. Source

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