Crockett City Council Receives Good Marks from Preliminary Financial Audit
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – The Crockett City Council met in a regular session Monday, March 27 to hear the preliminary results of the city’s 2022 financial audit and approve a program to “Keep Crockett Clean.”
Molly Abele, CPA and Partner of Axley and Rode Accounting Firm in Lufkin told the city the audit was about 99% complete but came to present some of the preliminary findings. Abele told the council the city was in good financial shape with some caveats due to the city spending special grant monies sent by the federal government which would not be repeated. There were slight increases in both revenue and expenses but with only a 1% change in the financial status overall. The city had a $213,000 increases in expenses overall, with revenue of $617,000. The city also holds over two million dollars in its grant fund with some decreases year-over-year due to the city spending some of those funds. The presentation was for discussion purposes only, as the report has not yet been completed and has not been released to the public.
Election information was confirmed with voting places approved with the issue of deputy early voting clerks causing contention among council members. City Administrator John Angerstein was listed as one of the deputies, meaning he would fill in if the normal clerks were unavailable. Precinct Two Councilman Darrell Jones complained about this, saying Angerstein should not serve in such a role. Angerstein explained he had been trained to do this and would only serve in a backup role if the other clerks were unavailable. In the end, Angerstein told the council it is their prerogative and they asked him to remove his name.
Angerstein told the council of the need of a grant writer to help them write and administer grants funds solicited by the city. Darrell Jones thought the city had already hired a grant writer but Angerstein explained this is an outsourced position requiring special skills and training. The council approved the move to seek bids to get help to present grants on behalf of the city.
The city is in need of help regarding building plan reviews, permits and inspections since the city has been growing so quickly and some new businesses or construction requires inspection expertise the city does not have at the current time. The council memebrs agreed it would be better to have more experts work on this, not only to lighten the load on the current city employees, but also to make sure the work is done right and there are no liability risks to the city. The council approved seeking bids to help with some of these projects.
The city agreed to establish a non-profit “Keep Crockett Clean” project with the help of a new arrival from Baytown with experience is running these organizations, Scott Sheley. The proposal includes each council member appointing a board member from their precinct and the board would include local students from the high school. Sheley told the council he looked forward to helping with the project in any way possible in order to inspire youth, clean up trash and beautify the city from the entryways to the downtown area.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
