Independent audit finds unassigned general‑fund deficit; council advances budget and tax-rate first readings

An independent audit of the City of La Marque’s FY2023–24 financial statements found the books required numerous adjustments and showed the city ended the year with a deficit in its unassigned general fund, and the city council moved forward on the first readings of both the annual budget and a proposed tax‑rate increase.

Mike Brooks of Brooks Watson & Company told the council that the firm issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the audited financial statements and that ‘‘total assets exceeded total liabilities by 31,600,000.0’’ and governmental funds reported a combined ending fund balance of $6,264,000. He also said the city’s ‘‘unassigned fund balance ended the year in a deficit position of 273,098’’ and that auditors proposed a substantial number of journal adjustments to bring the records into GAAP presentation. "I am happy to say that we did issue a clean, unmodified audit opinion," Brooks said during his presentation.

Brooks identified the biggest driver of the year‑to‑year fund‑balance decline as public‑safety overspending: the audit showed approximately $1.8 million of overages in police spending and other significant variances in public…