When government leaders travel on your dime, every dollar deserves careful scrutiny

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Travel on the taxpayer’s dime

The Star-Telegram reviewed thousands of expense records for top government leaders in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, the school district and Tarrant Regional Water District, from business travel to club memberships.

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We investigated how often top Fort Worth, county leaders travel. Here’s what we found

Your tax dollars give these top local leaders access to members-only Fort Worth Club

What are the travel expense rules for public employees in Tarrant County? It depends

When government leaders travel on your dime, every dollar deserves careful scrutiny

Look up salaries for Fort Worth and Tarrant County government employees

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All public employees, especially top leaders, must be careful stewards of the public’s money.

The overwhelming majority know this and rise to the occasion. Some also understand that their spending is public information, and that causes some to be even more responsible.

But a broad investigation by Star-Telegram reporter Emily Brindley reminds us that even when government workers are scrupulous, making the best use of taxpayer dollars requires vigilance and a devotion to best practices.

Digging into top leaders’ travel expenses at the city, Tarrant County, the Tarrant Regional Water District and the Fort Worth school district, Brindley found a wide range of practices. Focusing on 2019, she discovered that some leave the office little, while others are regularly away at conferences, industry meetings and training, and the like.

Most of the travel is thoroughly appropriate. We want well-trained public servants, knowledgeable about trends in their field and searching for smart ideas to bring back to Tarrant County. We want them connecting with talented potential recruits so they’re always ready when the time comes to hire.

But conferences and professional memberships get expensive. And the reporting shows that not all public entities follow the best rules for approving travel and other expenses, especially for top leaders.

The records indicate that at the water district, the grooming of Dan Buhman, now the top executive in the district, was proceeding apace in 2019. Buhman spent more than $20,000 to attend conferences around the country. He was making connections in the admittedly small world of water-supply management as he prepared to ascend to the top job.

“There was more travel at that time, because we were trying to get a scope of everything that was going on,” Buhman said.

His travel far exceeded that of the school superintendent, the county administrator and even Buhman’s own boss, former general manager Jim Oliver.

If Buhman, working with a revamped district board of directors, uses that training to improve on the district’s transparency and accountability, it will have been well worth it. But we note that all the groundwork for Buhman’s promotion seems to indicate no other candidate probably had much chance to replace Oliver, who retired in 2021 after decades in the job. The district interviewed five finalists and used an outside firm to recruit before settling on Buhman.

This is not a poor reflection on Buhman, who was well-qualified and appears determined to improve the district’s operations. But it’s another reminder of the heavy hand that former board president Jack Stevens used in his position, and it sheds light on Stevens’ arrogant determination to finish the hire even if it meant doing so while the board prepared for a post-election transition.

More troubling is the district’s decision to pay for membership to the Fort Worth Club, apparently to use its meeting spaces and as a convenient place for business meals. The city has complimentary memberships, and none of the other governments reviewed pays to be in the club. But the water district pays for Buhman’s dues, including initiation fees. We’re hard-pressed to see how the public benefits.

The Star-Telegram also found that practices for approving travel expenses vary widely in the different governments. It’s not that there must be a one-size-fits-all approach. But practices such as having a subordinate approve a top administrator’s expenses merit review; it’s a lot to expect of a deputy to ask the boss if maybe he or she could have found a better hotel rate.

At all levels of government, periodic audits and reviews should check for inordinate spending, along with possible improvements to the approval and disclosure process.

Developing employees, getting top-notch training and building connections are as important for government as they are for business. But every trip should be a true investment, and the public’s dollars should be guarded all along the way.

This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 5:10 AM.