The Providence Village Town Council got a clean bill of financial health at its Feb. 17 meeting.
Susan LaFollett, principal at Vail & Park, P.C. LaFollett began her report by stating the town will meet the March deadline with their 2024-25 Fiscal Year Audit report.
“It’s a very clean report,” she said.
LaFollett went on to state that there were no significant risks identified.
The council also reviewed whether the town was in compliance with specific agreements and contracts, such as the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
The town's total net position of $25,412,831, increased by $3,170,539 from fiscal year 2024.
The increase is attributed to tax revenue and grants.
The breakdown of the total includes net investment in capital assets of $13,569,093, restricted net position of $8,179,896, which refers to money already set aside for specific purposes and can only be spent on those things, and the unrestricted net position of $3,663,842, which the city can freely use, as stated in LaFollett’s report.
Moving to governmental activities, the town’s total revenue declined sharply by 46% or $9,067,385.
These funds include, but are not limited to, sales taxes and property taxes.
However, the town’s total expenses increased by $591,368, a 9% rise. LaFollett’s report states that the biggest expenses were for general government and public safety.
LaFollett noted that the town exceeds the recommended amount of general funds, maintaining about 12 months’ reserves, whereas the GFOA recommends between three to six months.
“That’s money that you can use going forward, and it gives you a little bit of cushion if there were some sort of catastrophe that occurred were your tax dollars were delayed in the fall, you would still have money to keep going,” LaFollett said.
Toward the end of the report, several recommendations were made, including “review and approval of the complete cash reconciliations.”
Recommendation two states “record construction in progress and debt,” which relates to an agreement between the town and Upper Trinity Regional Water District for constructing a metering station.
The report mentions a “note payable to Upper Trinity for the cost of the project.” It also states that the town failed to recognize “the construction in progress (CIP) or the debt, as incurred.”
The third recommendation is “construction in progress detail” to keep track of the town’s numerous projects.
The next recommendation is for the town to conduct monthly expenditure reports and reclassify amounts “spent for capital assets to capital outlay accounts,” as stated in the report.
The fifth recommendation involves updating the employee handbook, last revised in 2022.
The sixth relates to water funds.
“Again, the water fund was going in the wrong direction,” LaFollett said. “It still has a negative net position of about half a million,” LaFollett said.
The final recommendation states, “The developer payment to the Foree Ranch PID Fund 280 does not cover the town’s cost of administering the PID, resulting in a negative unrestricted fund balance of $32,698.”
The report suggests the city explore different cost strategies.
At the end, LaFollett thanked Finance Administrator Jenny Sawyers, Town Manager Brian Roberson and CPA Consultant Eddie Peacock for ensuring the process ran smoothly.
The town issued a proclamation declaring Feb. 20, as Government Communicators Day to recognize Communications/ Deputy Town Secretary Delaney McGuire.
Mayor Linda Inman praised and thanked Mc-Guire for her ongoing efforts to connect with the community while keeping them informed.
“Delaney has come in like gangbusters and changed our social media, changed our website,” Inman said. “It’s an incredible thing.”
On Saturday, the town council also held a special meeting to replace Dustin Clay in Place 4, as he is running for Aubrey ISD school board, which means he will forfeit his council seat that was set to expire in 2027.
“There are provisions in the constitution that allow holdovers for vacancies, meaning he can continue serving on the council until a replacement is elected,” Roberson said on Feb. 17.
Clay shared his parting message at the meeting: “It’s been a pleasure working with everybody here and serving all of you.”
He also mentioned that he plans to continue attending meetings.
At the Saturday meeting, the council members “approved the resolution ordering the special election to fill the vacancy for Place 4 remainder of the term,” Town Secretary Hilary McConnell said.
