Auditing Garland
The Ledger's review of Garland's budgets, audits, debt and redevelopment money. Every story in the series, sorted by subject, with the figures the records show and links to the official documents.
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Auditing Garland: What the city's audit and budget show
Garland's fiscal 2025 audit gives the city an unmodified opinion on its financial statements and lists seven state-compliance findings. The year included $4.37 million in new sales tax revenue bonds and a general fund that took in $3.2 million and spent $6.1 million.
Read the explainer →Key figures
- $6,119,820General fund spending in fiscal 2025Auditing Garland: What the city's audit and budget show →
- $3,168,400Fiscal 2027 general fund budgetAuditing Garland: What the city's audit and budget show →
- $685,990Sewer fund net borrowing from other funds, per audit findingGarland's fiscal 2025 audit reports sewer fund borrowing from restricted funds →
- $1,027,517Sewer fund amount due to other funds, June 30, 2025Garland's fiscal 2025 audit reports sewer fund borrowing from restricted funds →
- -$195,123Capital projects fund deficit, June 30, 2025Garland's fiscal 2025 audit reports two departments over budget and a deficit capital projects fund →
- $4,374,0002024 sales tax revenue bonds received in fiscal 2025Garland took on $4.37 million in 2024 sales tax bonds, with payments budgeted under streets →
Debt and bonds
Garland took on $4.37 million in 2024 sales tax bonds, with payments budgeted under streets
Garland issued two 2024 sales tax revenue bonds totaling $4,374,000, recorded in fiscal 2025. General fund spending on public works was $3.69 million that year. The city's budget reports list the debt payments under streets.
Budgets, reserves and taxes
Garland's fiscal 2025 audit reports two departments over budget and a deficit capital projects fund
Garland's fiscal 2025 audit says administration and garbage spending exceeded final budgets, the council did not get monthly financial statements, and the capital projects fund ended the year with a deficit balance that state law does not allow.
Contracts and spending
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Audits and compliance
Garland's fiscal 2025 audit: fees not on the fee schedule and a late fraud risk assessment
Four of the seven compliance findings in Garland's fiscal 2025 audit involve fees, impact fees, unbilled city use of water and sewer service, and a fraud risk assessment that was not presented to the council by the deadline.
Garland's fiscal 2025 audit reports sewer fund borrowing from restricted funds
The fiscal 2025 audit says Garland's sewer fund borrowed $685,990 from the water fund, the redevelopment agency fund and the general fund, including money restricted to other uses, without meeting state requirements for interfund loans.