The City of Teague Board of Aldermen ordered that expense line items on the city budget reaching 75 percent of the maximum automatically go on the next monthly agenda during their Monday, April 21, meeting.
The vote came about following months of concern about budget overages. The measure goes into effect beginning with the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
The city will continue to use budget amendments for the remainder of the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Revenue line items will not have to be brought to the board. At the May meeting, the board will make a list of all of the line items that can be excluded. Emergency issues will not have to be put on hold. The Mayor can approve the purchase or a special called board meeting can be held.
The board approved the minutes from the March 17 meeting, accepted the financial statements from March 2025, and accepted the investment report for the first quarter of 2025. Ron Rasbeary, Jerry Ballew, and Rhonda Jones approved the accounts payable and payroll check registers for the month of March 2025, with Bridget Gauntt and Timothy Campbell voting against it.
Campbell questioned checks on the account and amounts that did not match up.
“You are given these reports at least three days prior to the meeting,” Mayor James Monks said. “Please look over these reports and ask questions before the meeting. This isn’t the first time they have been questioned. You need to give them time to answer the questions instead of making them feel rushed and stressed out in front of five aldermen. They don’t have all of these numbers memorized.”
Budget Amendment Ordinance No. 2025-2104, totaling $155,058.59 was approved. A total of $127,000 of the amendment was for the dispatch center interlocal agreement with Freestone County.
The board approved the budget calendar for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Citizen input will be taken on Friday, April 25. There will be a staff budget planning session on Wednesday, April 30. The budget calendar includes 16 important dates with the beginning of the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
Monks noted that Teague VFD’s Engine 92 is back in service after having work done on the vehicle totaling $4,192.
The next City of Teague Board of Aldermen meeting will be held on Monday, May 19, at 6 p.m.
