Watonga City Council had a wide range of items on the Feb. 21 agenda. Council member Allen Cowan was unable to attend, however the remainder of the council was present and worked in front of an audience of about 25 residents and guests.
Jana Walker, CPA, issued a report on the city audit, giving it an ‘unqualified’ opinion. That designation is the best that can be applied to a town or city, meaning there are no significant failures in the books and procedures for the accounting process.
The audit showed resources or assets of the city exceed its liabilities, coming in at $20 million, compared to last year’s $19 million. That figure includes fixed assets such as buildings and equipment, which make up $16 million.
Breaking down the audit further, the only department that showed expenses above revenue was the sewer department. The audit also gave the city good marks on its internal controls, the checks and balances that help prevent misappropriation or theft of assets from the inside.
“Year in and year out, this is something to work on and continue to improve to safeguard the city’s assets,” Walker said.
The financial report issued by the city’s accounting firm also showed the city remains in the black with 58% of the year in the rearview mirror. The council did amend its budget to account for an additional $310,583 in revenue. That money was from a high use tax revenue and a reduction in street and alley expenses because of the outsourcing of garbage collection. That also lead to a reduction of more than $172,000 in the garbage department.
“The way this works is when we look at the budget in a few months, we look at how we want to spend that extra money. Do we clean some ditches that haven’t been cleaned in a good while or maybe we overlay some more streets that need it,” said Mayor Bill Seitter.
The council approved a motion to purchase new Motorola body cameras for the Watonga Police Department, replacing old cameras that have become obsolete. The $31,515 cost includes programming for the cameras, although the data is stored in house.
Perhaps the most momentous item on the agenda was the contract the city has negotiated with Zona Verde Inc. for a house to be constructed on city property.
The Christian Church recently donated part of lot it owned to the city. That lot on Weigle will be the site of the new home. Zona Verde was selected because its unique construction system keeps the cost affordable – about $120,000 – and it can complete the work in slightly more than two weeks after the house is placed on the foundation.
The construction contract was not ready for consideration by the council, but will be taken up at the next city council meeting on March 15.