Pryor Creek accountant reports $104,000 net surplus; council discusses flat 2025–26 general fund budget and capital needs

Pryor Creek — City accountant Jeff Coker told the Pryor Creek City Council on July 8 that, after cleaning up accounting entries, the city’s books show a net revenue over expenditures of about $104,000 for the year and total revenues near $8.7 million.

Coker said staff discovered two duplicated payroll journal entries for June that had overstated payroll expenses and understated the city’s carryover. “We found actually two duplicated payrolls in June,” Coker said. He added that the duplicated entries were journal entries from the payroll vendor and did not reflect cash disbursements: “It didn't affect cash ... it was just overstating reported expenditures.”

The fiscal overview came during a presentation and discussion of the general fund budget and upcoming capital outlay needs. Coker said the preliminary carryover looks to be close to $1.1 million and recommended conservative budgeting practices, including planning on about 90% of prior-year revenue when building next year’s budget.

The mayor (name not specified in the transcript) reported sales-tax receipts were up compared with the prior month and outlined ongoing work to finalize numbers for the general fund and non‑general funds. The mayor said the administration is assembling capital outlay lists for streets, drainage and parks, and noted some prior-year capital expenses had not been rolled over correctly; those bookkeeping issues are being corrected.

Council discussion emphasized a “flat” general fund budget approach for 2025–26. Coker told the council that although the city is “not rich,” the current position is better than earlier estimates and that departments generally stayed within their line-item budgets. He also said certain positions are being re-budgeted—for example, the animal shelter position vacated by Maria will be refilled at comparable pay to the recently hired employee Jett.

Coker and the mayor said additional adjustments are still underway while staff finish closing entries and template fixes in the accounting system; Cassell (a staff member or consultant referenced in the discussion) and others were identified as performing those corrections. Coker said final, official financial statements could be available in a week or two as staff continue to resolve remaining items.

Votes at a glance: The council approved the minutes of the July 8, 2025 meeting and later approved a motion to adjourn. The transcript records the motions, seconds and roll-call affirmations; no additional substantive votes on budget or capital outlay were taken at this meeting.

The council requested more finalized numbers before formal budget adoption and will return with updated figures for the full council as staff complete the year-end cleanup.