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Aransas Pass council approves annual financial audit after auditor reports unmodified opinion
Summary
The Aransas Pass City Council approved the city's fiscal-year-2025 financial audit after independent auditor Brenda McElwee reported an unmodified (clean) opinion, noted compliance with a cited House bill, and flagged a more than 10% drop in water sales linked to drought. The motion passed by voice vote; an effective date of 03/31/2026 was recorded.
Aransas Pass' independent auditor Brenda McElwee told the City Council on March 31 that the audit of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, received an unmodified (clean) opinion and that the city is in compliance with the state requirement she cited in the report.
"I'm happy to report to you that you're in compliance with House Bill 1522," McElwee said. She told the council the audit was an unmodified opinion — "the highest level" — and pointed council members to a condensed, plain-English summary of the report on pages 11 through 20 for a quicker review of the city's financial condition.
McElwee highlighted several items she said were important for the council to note. She said drought conditions contributed to a drop in water sales of more than 10%, which reduced utility fund revenue despite ongoing meter-reading and staffing costs. She also described the city's debt schedule and said the schedule shows about $29,000,004.39 in outstanding debt (including a note payable expected to be paid off next year) and that fiscal-year 2025 debt service included roughly $3.5 million applied to principal plus about $1.3 million in interest.
When a council member questioned a circulating figure of $44 million in debt, McElwee pointed the body to the bond schedule and the pages she cited, saying the schedule shows the roughly $29 million figure.
A council member asked whether amenities such as parks, pools and a civic center make sense from a strictly financial perspective. McElwee said those services generally do not pay for themselves in dollars and cents but serve quality-of-life goals that can influence whether people choose to live in or visit the city.
A council member moved to approve the fiscal-year-2025 audit prepared by Brenda McElwee and to provide an effective date. The motion was seconded and decided by voice vote; the chair declared the motion carried. The effective date stated in the meeting record was March 31, 2026.
The audit presentation and the council's approval concluded the relevant action items; the meeting was then adjourned.
