Fort Bend County Judge KP George was a no show at Thursday’s commissioners court but some unhappy residents made sure to show up and voice their concerns over scheduled agenda items.
Evelyn Montalvo signed up to speak after learning county employees were seeking approval to attend the 40th Conference of the National Organization of Black County Officials in May.
The Pecan Grove resident had three minutes to share her testimony. “I’ve been a resident of Fort Bend County since 1990. I am here to speak on all of these travel requests. Every time I come to commissioners court, there is a slew of requests for travel expenses. It seems exorbitant to me. I understand the trip to Maui has been pulled, but that was for nine employees going to Maui. That is excessive. That is outrageous.”
Montalvo said she wants details on how attending a conference in Hawaii benefits the citizens of Fort Bend County. She then noted the county’s debt and added “we are spending money like drunken sailors” while suggesting the commissioners “get some housewives in here that run a really tight ship on a shoestring budget and show you where to cut.”
Tony Aranda, candidate for Precinct 2 Commissioner also came prepared to speak.
The former Marine was quick to point out that travel can be beneficial but wanted to make sure taxpayer resources were being used efficiently. “Let me say up front, this is not about whether conferences have value; they do. But good governance requires that attendance be clearly tied, to the responsibilities of the office and the work being done here in Fort Bend County, the Tax Assessor-Collector’s office plays an essential role in tax administration. But that role is not economic development. So, the question becomes, what is the direct job-related benefit of sending personnel from that office to an economic development conference in Hawaii? There is no documented specific benefit for the residents.”
The current Fort Bend County Travel Policy requires commissioners court to approve all out of state travel. In March 2025, Fort Bend County commissioners voted to ban the use of county funds for international travel. An exception was made for trips approved by commissioners court.
The county’s travel policy is relatively standard for government travel with caps on hotels decided by the U.S. General Services Administration’s website and reimbursements rates limited to lowest available coach or economy airfare. Meals are reimbursed at $70 a day. You can read the travel policy in its entirety here. Highlights from the document are here:
Hotel:
Hotel reimbursements are limited to the Federal Travel Regulations set forth by US General Services Administration (GSA) by location not including taxes. The rates are set annually and vary by month and location.
Airfare:
The County will only reimburse direct travel to and from a location where county-related business is being conducted. Airfare is reimbursable at the lowest available rate based on 14 day advance purchase of a discounted coach/economy full-service seat based on the required arrival time for the event.
Meals:
Meals including in-state and out-of-state will be reimbursed to the traveler at a flat rate of $70 (full day). The travelers per diem on the departure day and final day will be at 75% of the per diem, which is $52.50. The amount reimbursed will be paid through payroll and is subject to federal taxation.
Registration Fees:
Registration fees are reimbursable for events that serve a Fort Bend County purpose. Registration fees for golf tournaments, tours, guest fees and other recreational events are not reimbursable.
Evelyn Montalvo later added in her testimony that she requested travel documentation from the county after attending commissioners court in 2025. “Last September, I sent a PIR requesting travel expenses for one year for only three departments, the sheriff, the library system, and IT. I got seventeen pages—seventeen pages of travel requests for one year. This is outrageous. The library, all of this in pink is for the library for one year. All of this for the library system that was not even functional most of last year. Between the end of February and either July or August, it wasn’t even operational due to a ransomware attack. Yet, all these library officials were traveling.”
Commissioner Prestage pulled all consent agenda items related to travel to the NOBCO Economic Development Conference. Proposed travel to the May conference would have included approval for Precinct 2 Commissioner Prestage, four Precinct 2 employees, Tax Assessor-Collector Carmen P. Turner and another tax office employee, as well as an employee of the County Assistance District No. 5.