HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Settled in the Silver Glen Community is Harris County Municipal Utility District Number 304.
Their slogan is, ‘We water the seeds for tomorrow.’
“It was just a money grab,” MUD 304 Director Michael Garrett said.
Garrett says former and current directors have only been watering their bank accounts.
“One director had the audacity to get $50,000 for gas, for two months,” he said. “Claimed he drove 100,000 miles in two months.” One of the many findings in a 70-page external audit.
In June, the board paid $100,000 for an independent investigation.
“What was the most shocking part is the numbers and the money that was received during this time,” Garrett said.
The audit found between 2015 to 2020 unnecessary losses are estimated between $500,000 to $1,000,000.
The report shows one board member received more than $300,000 in expenses from the district and another director received nearly $225,000 over that same period.
According to the report, $7,200 is the typical amount allotted per year.
“There were cities that they were going to [that had] no conventions,” Garrett added.
“I started noticing something strange when our water bill started going up,” Larry Allen said.
Allen has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years.
“They were doing nothing about our dirty water,” he said.
Allen says there was not a lot of upkeep around the neighborhood.
“I knew something was going on,” he said. “I just didn’t know how they were doing it.”
Computers, cash even chairs for the community center were unaccounted for in the report.
“I’m very upset about it because it’s my tax, and I like for my tax money to be spent on things I know that are going to provide for the lively hood of this neighborhood,” Allen said.