At Monday night’s Collinsville City Council meeting, Sophie Packard, audit manager with Vale & Price, gave a brief presentation regarding a financial audit completed for 2024-2025 City finances.
Packard was pleased to report the City had earned a clean audit report. Vale & Price offered no changes to risk and found no significant deficiencies.
The City’s total revenue had increased $319,000 for a 17% rise, with property tax being the city’s largest source of revenue.
The General Fund has 5.6 months of reserve (three to six is recommended).
“The audit went early and smooth,” Packard said. “The City is doing really well.”
Vale & Price offered only two “very small” recommendations. They suggested the City create a year-end checklist, and the depereciation schedule required some updates.
“These are very minor suggestions so things can be improved,” Packard said. “The information provided to us was very well put together this year.”
Next, local business owner Joshua Mills addressed the council to propose a new ordinance that would limit the ability of food trucks to sell the same goods that retail establishments are selling.
“Those of us with brick and mortar businesses aren’t making the profit people think we’re making,” Mills said.
He said his ordinance would allow the city to have the power to decide if food trucks can come in or not.
“For me personally, having a food truck selling the same products as me, I’ve lost half my business,” Mills said. “It’s a concern -- it’s been happening, it is happening. We need to protect the businesses who are invested in the city.”
Mills pointed out that brick and mortar establishments are paying property tax and sales tax while food trucks have much lower operational costs.
“It’s okay to have competing businesses to an extent,” Mills said. “But it’s difficult enough to keep a successful business in this town. I’m having to get really creative to make a profit. It’s not sustainable.”
Mills feels his proposed ordinance would give businesses that are investing in the city a chance to thrive. It also provides exceptions for things like fundraisers, city events and emergency disasters.
The council opened the topic for discussion, brainstorming ideas like limiting the sale of items based on sales percentages. They will continue to give the topic some thought before coming to a decision.
Lastly, the council approved entering a FEMA grant agreement for a generator at the Broadway Street water well. During the last major power outage, Grayson County Commissioner Lindsay Wright loaned the city a generator, but the city would like to have its own.
A new generator would cost around $230,000, but with the grant, it would only cost the city $23,000. (With engineering, the total cost to the city would be around $58,000.)
The money would come from the water fund, and the generator would be up and running in 18 months.
This opportunity has been four years in the making, so the council agreed to move forward with the grant.
Source: Freepik.com