Pauls Valley City Council heard the results of the city’s annual audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, during their regular meeting Tuesday.
Representatives from HSPG & Associates prepared and presented the audit report to council.
The following deficiencies were noted in the audit report:
•Financial statement segregation of duties - A single employee has access to all phases of a transaction. Caused by the small staff size, the City is addressing this with management reviews and periodic independent reviews of financial transactions.
•Payroll hiring - Two employees lacked official documentation of being hired by the city manager and supervisor. The City reviewed hiring and onboarding procedures to address this going forward.
•Federal awards reporting - This audit was due in March but is being submitted in October. The City is “implementing a more structured audit preparation schedule, enhancing coordination with external auditors, and designating additional resources.”
Issues from the 2022 to 2023 audit were also listed in the report:
•Financial statements uncollateralized deposits - Deposits were under-collateralized on June 30, 2023, but the matter was corrected in the new fiscal year.
•Payroll - The City lacked internal controls to review payroll for employees.
•Utility billings - Bills weren’t properly computed and charged, but it was corrected in the new fiscal year.
•Federal awards reporting - The audit that was due March 2024 was submitted Sept. 25, 2024.
Other business conducted by the council Tuesday included approving camera and access control upgrades for the police station, a policy to allow city employees to opt out of City-provided health insurance in exchange for an incentive payment of $200, and several road closures related to upcoming events.
The council spent nearly an hour in executive session for discussion of an unspecified employment issue. The council’s agenda item listed only the statute allowing for executive session to discuss employment issues, but did not identify a specific employee or job title to be discussed.
In the Pauls Valley Municipal Authority meeting, an agenda item for an executive session to discuss “the possible sale of real property owned by the PVMA” was skipped, with City Manager Joe Livingston saying it was “no longer needed.”