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Finance director posts FY2025 records as lenders press council for deeper cuts
Summary
Finance Director Worth Ferguson told the La Marque City Council that staff published comprehensive fiscal documents for FY2025 and created a public tracking sheet for reconciliations and audit responses. Lenders reviewing a proposed tax-secured loan told staff they need to see additional cuts and revenue sources before advancing financing.
La Marque — Finance Director Worth Ferguson told the City Council on Oct. 27 that the city has posted a first batch of FY2025 financial documents — including a trial balance, balance sheet, journal entries through August, department-level budget-to-actual reports and check registers — and has published a public tracking spreadsheet that lists outstanding reconciliations and audit recommendations.
“The first of those is actually reconciling our audit to what is in the system for the end of the last fiscal year,” Ferguson said, outlining the priorities on the new tracker. He said the city will add prior-year audit findings and implementation timelines so residents can track progress.
Ferguson said staff also held two extensive citizen informational sessions requested by residents about forensic audit scopes and that the sessions produced material lists of items to investigate further. “Those sessions were extraordinarily well. The first one was almost four hours long,” he said.
City Manager Holly and staff told council that lenders reviewing a tax-secured loan proposal remain unconvinced of the city’s financial position. “They’ve told us they want to see more cuts, at least identified, and additional sources of revenue,” Ferguson said. Council members asked for clearer, monthly budget-to-actual summaries and for the finance team to highlight departments that have exceeded line-item budgets.
Why it matters: The transparency effort aims to restore public trust and give lenders up-to-date information as the city seeks short-term financing to cover pressing obligations. Ferguson said the posted documents carry a caveat that system data still require reconciliations and that accuracy will improve as reconciliations complete.
Council direction and next steps: Staff said they will continue to update the online tracker, complete reconciliations needed to start the FY2025 audit, and prioritize proposals for cuts and additional revenue. Ferguson recommended bringing a prioritized list of suggested administrative cuts and timing back to council for review.
Quotations: Finance Director Worth Ferguson said, “We have released the first batch of documents for fiscal year 2025… Any citizen can go to our website and find any of those documents.” City Manager Holly noted staff will present additional public sessions to help residents read bills and the city’s financials.
Ending: Council members thanked staff for the posting and asked for a one-page summary in plain language showing departments and line items that are over budget. Ferguson said September’s reports will be available at the next council meeting and the staff will propose a regular monthly cadence for reports.
