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Bandera council accepts 2023–24 audit; auditor flags unrecorded payables and recommends stronger controls
Summary
The City of Bandera accepted its 2023–24 audit, which delivered a clean opinion but noted findings including unrecorded accounts payable (over $300,000), budget variances and weaknesses in written procedures. Auditors recommended bookkeeping and internal-control changes; council approved a resolution accepting the audit unanimously.
The City of Bandera City Council voted unanimously April 8 to accept the city’s 2023–24 audit after a presentation from auditors Neffendorf & Blocker.
Hailey Walker, audit manager at Neffendorf & Blocker, told the council the firm issued “an unqualified opinion, which is good. It was a clean audit.” She also pointed to findings and recommended internal-control improvements.
Walker said the city’s government-wide statements show total assets of about $19,906,794, total liabilities of about $8,800,000 and a total net position near $11,300,000. She reported total revenues of about $5,200,000 and expenses of about $4,200,000, producing a net increase of roughly $950,000. On fund balances, Walker said the general fund ended the year with about $1,933,584 and the capital projects fund had about $2,670,000.
The audit identified a significant accounts-payable issue: Walker said auditors booked an audit adjustment for more than $300,000 of previously unrecorded accounts payable, which contributed to the city exceeding its adopted budgeted expenditures. Walker said the fiscal-year-end booking practice — invoices received in October that belonged to the prior fiscal year — had not always been “booked back” into the prior year, producing the variance.
Allison, the city treasurer, responded that many of the invoices arrived in October and were paid in October; she said the corrective step is to record those payables back into the prior fiscal year at year-end. “It's not something that's happening all throughout the year. It's the end of the year that we need to make that correction,” Allison said.
Walker pointed to other audit recommendations: (1) reconcile and document grant receivables so grant revenues match recorded grant expenditures, (2) tighten controls over utility rate changes and billing (she found one sewer rate that had not been updated), (3) clean up utility accounts receivable credit balances that date back to 2016–2017, and (4) compile written financial procedures and controls to reduce operational risk during staff turnover.
Councilmember discussion emphasized using year-end variance information to inform next year’s budget and asked staff to monitor contractors’ billing timing so payables are identified earlier. Mayor Tony Battle moved to approve Resolution 2025-013 authorizing acceptance of the audit; Councilmember Lynn Palmer seconded. The motion passed with all votes in favor and none opposed.
Council members did not adopt specific new policy changes during the meeting; the audit presentation concluded with auditors and staff agreeing to implement the bookkeeping and control adjustments described in the report and to bring any required budget amendments to council when necessary.
The audit packet and the approved resolution will be kept with city records. Auditors invited council members to call their office with follow-up questions.
