Audit: Transparency lacking in contracts
Harris County needs to boost transparency when awarding millions of dollars in contracts to companies that help build and maintain the Houston area’s roads, infrastructure and parks, according to a new report from the county auditor’s office.
The audit calls for the county to keep a better paper trail when contracting for architectural, engineering or land surveying services by documenting the decision-makers’ conflicts of interest and how they selected the most qualified bidder.
The report, prepared by Harris County Auditor Michael Post’s office, credited County Engineer Milton Rahman — who took over in 2022 — with making changes to “design, develop and centralize the contract process,” including a recently created regulatory division that helps staff standardize the way they select vendors. It also noted that the engineering department did not have consistent records available from before July 2023, when a new process was implemented.
Now the department will develop written policies for selecting vendors and retain documentation, according to an action plan included with the findings.
“I really welcome this audit report,” Rahman said Friday, adding that the vendor selection process he inherited had been in place for many years. “There is a lot of misconception out there (about) how they get selected, but I think this will also help us.”
The auditor’s office declined to comment.
Ultimately, companies are chosen by engineering department staff, as well as staff from the four commissioner’s offices. Auditors found there were no conflict of interest certifications on file for those employees and no written policies requiring staff to document their conflicts.
The action plan calls for the department to use a standardized conflict of interest form and retain records of those forms.
Staff involved in vendor selection already sign off on their conflicts of interest and are expected to recuse themselves if necessary, Rahman said, but the department now will adopt the forms used by other departments instead.
The auditor’s office also flagged that contracts are awarded before conducting a debarment review, a process in which staff verify that a company hasn’t been declared ineligible by a federal agency.
Rahman said the county attorney’s office does confirm eligibility before a contract is approved but that his department will make changes to align the review process with the county’s procurement policy.
Auditors also conducted a survey of five other counties — Denton, Tarrant, Travis, Bexar and Collin — and found that only in Harris and Bexar are commissioners allowed to choose their preferred vendor for a project.
Harris was the only county that procures professional services — such as engineering — independent of the purchasing office.
The updated policies are expected to be fully drafted by June 1 and implemented by Aug. 1, according to the report.