Council pursues more oversight after FY2027 budget trials

Three weeks into Fiscal Year 2027, Gladewater City Council still have unanswered questions about the municipality’s finances – they’re paying outside auditors for additional clarity.
“This is cleaning up some of the stuff in the budget,” Mayor Brandy Flanagan-Shipp said last week, seeking council support for $1,000 for a line-item audit by Vail & Park, PC.
In addition to checking City Treasurer Meghan Davis’ numbers on fund balances and reserves, the mayor said the firm would teach Davis and City Manager Charlie Smith how to get those numbers.
According to Davis, who resigned her position days later on Oct. 19, “At the budget workshop, I explained how to calculate it.”
“You told us that you didn’t,” Flanagan-Shipp countered. “First off, this doesn’t need to be something that’s contentious… The auditor is the one who said the numbers are not correct.”
From councilman William Blackmon, “Do you have proof of that?”
“Yes,” the mayor replied. “Yes, I have an email.”
The $1,000 expense is worth getting the relevant numbers for certain, council member Kevin Clark said.
“Quite frankly, I’m still really foggy on it, and I’ve not received an explanation that I can understand,” he added. Clark requested a basic scope of work from the auditors before the project begins.
Earlier in the meeting, the council discussed options for how to offset initial expenses tied to large projects like the widening of Loop 485, which will be reimbursed later.
“I just think it’s crazy that we’re going to talk about doing a loan for grants and yet then talk about spending $1,000 to confirm a number,” Blackmon said.
Per Clark, “A thousand dollars to know we’re right on what we’re talking about when we ask for reserves and when we ask for what money we’ve got coming, I think is money well-spent.”
And for staff to be trained how to get the number exactly, the mayor added.
Ultimately, the audit was approved 5-1 (with Blackmon dissenting and councilman Milton Anderson absent).
The night’s discussion included other relevant items such as the Quarterly Investment Reports (pulled from their typical spot in the Consent Agenda) and a request for tracking expenditures on a regular percentage-of-budget basis.
“That’s how we establish the oversight of what we’re looking at,” Clark said.
“Especially in a tight budget year,” Blackmon agreed.
From Flanagan-Shipp, “I think there’s a lot of benefit to it.”
Approval of the investment reports was unanimous, as was a vote on accepting budget amendments to close out FY26.
“Anything that gets pulled from reserves according to our audit has to come to council first,” the mayor noted. “Anything that actually goes above the budget, it can be an emergency, but it’s supposed to come to us in the immediate next session.
“That’s not been being followed. We’re all gonna make sure that’s followed from this point forward.”
Keep the data up-to-date and in front of council, Clark added.
For example, “I want to know if our utility fund is self-sustaining. We know last year that was our big issue. I can look at this and know we’re still upside-down,” he said. “I need figures to help me know we’re on the right path. We’re trying to balance.
“I love seeing that we underestimated our revenue in a couple of these, and that’s great, but we’ve still got a whole lot of deficit.”