An Examiner investigation into the six-figure funds bestowed on the city of Beaumont’s top employees by a split vote of the City Council on Dec. 3 has revealed the retroactive raise imposed on Beaumont taxpayers is a direct violation of the Texas Constitution. While seeking public documentation from the city regarding the funding, more than $30,000 alone gifted to City Manager Kenneth Williams above and beyond his regularly six-figure contracted salary, The Examiner was informed that interim Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Ray is resigning her position with a little more than a two-week notice to cushion her departure.
Ray wasn’t in the CFO position for very long; she lasted about nine months. Prior employment as the finance director for the city of Vidor spanned seven years; Ray served as a manager at the Edgar, Kiker & Cross certified public accounting firm for almost seven years immediately before that. Ray even served as comptroller for the city of Beaumont for nearly two years before she took over the CFO role.
Ray’s former boss, Beaumont CFO Todd Simoneaux resigned from the same position at roughly this same time one year ago. On his way out, Simoneaux warned Beaumont’s elected leaders, its residents and those with fiscal interest in the city’s solvency that financial matters were being handled inappropriately – at best.
“For over 18 years with the city, I have felt confident about the financial position and budget practices and philosophies of the city. However, during the most recent budget process, I raised financial concerns about the proposed budget and feel that those concerns were not fully addressed in the final budget that was submitted to council,” Simoneaux explained, before adding, “and those concerns could adversely affect the future financial condition of the city.”
Unlike Ray, Simoneaux was ready to quit – immediately. Although he offered the obligatory, “I’ll help with the transition,” the longtime certified public accountant was unwilling to continue to serve where, he said, “the trust and confidence that have been placed in me” were jeopardized.
“It is crucial that I stand by my convictions and ethical principles, even if it means stepping away from a position I hold dear,” Simoneaux concluded.
This is the first budget cycle since Simoneaux’s departure – and noted deficiencies in the 2025 Budget have been persistent since the first draft was released without proper accounting for prior years’ tax collection. With each week, the budget that was approved prior to its effective date of Oct. 1 with a multi-million-dollar deficit, continues to grow debt.
Dec. 3, Beaumont City Council members Audwin Samuel, Chris Durio and A.J. Turner voted in favor of a 2% raise of the city manager’s base pay of $262,500 (as of the last produced public information; a new request remained unfulfilled as of press time). The pay would additionally be retroactively paid, as noted in the signed resolution, to the already-engorged 2025 Budget. With council members Randy Feldschau, Mike Getz and Taylor Neild voting to forego the raise, in addition to a 2% boost to the pay of the city secretary, city magistrate and city attorney, a tie-breaking vote was cast by Mayor Roy West to add it all to the taxpayers’ bill. In addition to the salary increase, the resolution approved an extra $30,000 to be allocated for the city manager’s retirement account, “another program, or a purpose of his choosing;” as well as roughly $23,000 each for the city secretary, city magistrate and city attorney. The exact cost to taxpayers is still uncertain, as The Examiner’s public information request in still in limbo.
‘No valid legal authorization’
“To prevent counties or municipalities from freely giving away the public moneys for services previously rendered or for which no valid legal authorization existed for which the public would receive no return,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office holds that any municipality granting retroactive compensation to staff outside of contract negotiations is acting in violation of the Texas Constitution.
Citing Texas Constitution, Article III, Section 53, then-Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote in October 2005 that, “The legislature shall have no power to grant, or to authorize any county or municipal authority to grant, any extra compensation, fee or allowance to a public officer, agent, servant or contractor after service has been rendered or a contract has been entered into and performed in whole or in part.”
Abbott further cited prior judicial rulings on the matter dating back to 1914, 1939, 1971, 1989, 1997, and 2005 – all asserting the same conclusion: Retroactive raises to municipal employees is unconstitutional.
The Examiner’s investigation into this matter further established that, at Beaumont City Council meetings conducted over a 20-year span during former Beaumont City Attorney Tyrone Cooper’s tenure, council and administration were advised that retroactive payments to municipal employees were prohibited. Beaumont’s parent county, Jefferson County, reports human resources holding to a policy of not granting pay retroactively.
When raises to the top employees under council’s charge were added to the Dec. 3 agenda, council members Neild, Getz and Feldshau expressed concern for continuing deficit spending and voted against the raises. Following the meeting where the opposition to high-dollar raises was outvoted, Williams carbon copied council members a retort to express his displeasure in those who question his competence and/or his compensation.
“I refuse to continue to sit idly by for your denigrating insults and character assassination of my impeccable reputation and proficiencies as one of the most accomplished city managers in the world,” Williams wrote, adding that “feedback had gotten to me” that at least one council member opposed the proposed compensation package “and was actively working to circumvent the plans.”
“I certainly did not ask for an increase;” Williams asserted, “it was offered.”
Regardless of where the retroactive pay offer originated, Texas Municipal League Assistant General Counsel Laura Mueller advised in the printed “Employment Law Manual for Texas Cities” circa 2015 that retroactive pay is not in line with the Texas Constitution that governs Texas cities.
“Additionally, House Bill 483 from the 2013 legislative session would keep a city from paying more than the contracted amount to a contract employee without meeting certain notice and hearing criteria,” Mueller advised. “This process will affect all contractual employees but will likely have a special effect on city managers. House Bill 483 by Representative (Jimmie) Aycock prohibits a city from paying more than the contracted amount to a current employee or a terminated employee unless the city has an open public meeting regarding the matter and states at the hearing why the payment is being made, the exact amount and the source of the payment.”
Not specified in Mueller’s manual, but contained in the text of House Bill 483, the public hearing to allot extra funds that were not under contract prior to being performed must also “maintain the public purpose to be served by making the excess payment.”