We are currently being audited by the Comptroller, who is reviewing our collection and disbursement of court costs, fees and fines in the J.P. courts.

The auditor is going back 4 years, to October, 1999. Because he is nowhere near concluding the audit, he has asked us to waive the 4 year statute of limitations to allow him to audit October 1, 1999 through February 28, 2000.

When I declined to waive limitations he expressed surprise, stating that we are the first county in his 28 years of audit experience to refuse. He explained that if we refuse, he will submit estimated deficiencies for each month that will fall outside the limitations period and that we will have to go through an administrative procedure to contest the estimated deficiencies.

My gut is to stick to my gut (there's an image) and refuse to waive. Do any of you have any experience on this subject? Any horror stories if we waive/do not waive?

Add the Comptroller's office to the list of folks who are given to telling you that you're the only county in the great State of Texas that acts in such an impudent and patently unlawful manner.

They audited us (Potter County) during the difficulties we had with our former Tax Assessor-Collector. We got the same request for an extension of limitations, and we -- like you petulant rascals -- declined the invitation. The world did not end, nor did a plague of locusts descend upon us (we're too drought-ravaged for locusts to have anything to eat up here, anyway). We wound up settling the deficiency (in our case, interest that was supposed to be going to the state instead of into our general fund) for 50% of the claimed amount. Stick to your core legal arguments, and stand your ground on limitations. It's unlikely to hurt you in the end, and may give you some negotiation tools.

What I could say about the Comptroller audit procedures will not appear on the web.

After telling the Comptroller's auditor that I was researching his request to execute limitations waivers, he waited 48 hours and assessed an estimate with a 25% additional amount to cover the fact that he could not audit the period covered by limitations. He then offered to withdraw the estimate if we signed the waivers. Grrrr!!!