The city of Tioga has selected its new auditor so the firm can jump into the process before the fall deadline for the report.
Of the four firms that bid for the project, the City Council selected a nearby firm, Lori Ann Cannon CPA out of Sherman.
'I like that she's close,' council member Heather Nesmith said. 'She does Southmayd, and she's cheaper.'
Nesmith added that the firm's understanding of the area will likely make the process easier for the CPA and the city staff.
The winning bid was $15,700, the low bid of the four.
The council also approved the publication of the proposed budget and set the cap of what the members would possibly set the tax rate to be: $0.591011 per $100 valuation.
That rate would be an increase from the current rate of $0.493155 per $100 valuation.
'All I need to know tonight is if you want to have another workshop and make any changes, or if you're ready to proceed with this proposed budget,' City Secretary Donna Carney said about the draft budget. 'If you are, I'll get it online for the citizens to be able to review it.'
Adoption of the rate and budget will be on the September council agenda.
Mayor Pro Tem Tommy Hunter asked Carney whether the budget was built using the $0.591011 rate, which she confirmed was the case.
The increase in tax rate, Mayor Craig Jezek said after the meeting, is to make up budget deficits and to prepare for possible legislative changes to property taxes in 2027.
At the top of the meeting, Tioga Volunteer Fire Department Chief Richard Hartman shared the monthly stats for the department's activities in July.
'We ended up with 33 calls for service totals,' he said. 'We had 18 EMS calls, six mutual aid fire calls, 11 calls for service, six motor vehicle accidents and two fires. And the Fourth of July was another year of success.'
Tioga Police Department Chief Curtis Macomb also shared his department's stats.
'We had 26 calls for service,' he said. 'Our officers wrote 148 citations and warnings. Of that, 106 of that was actual citations. We arrested two individuals. We did not work a crash inside of our city limits. We assisted another agency eight times, and we did not have any K9 deployment.'
That's because the vehicle equipped for the K9 officer and handler 'was down for about three weeks,' he said.
'Our dog was not able to work,' Macomb said.
Also at the meeting, the council named a 2018 Ford Explorer police vehicle with mechanical issues as surplus property so it can be sold, and the council voted to establish an account for the Homeland Security 287G program fund.
