WEST POINT — West Point’s finances look to be in good shape after the town passed its 2020-2021 budget and received a clean audit report during Monday night’s meeting of the West Point Town Council.

The town’s budget for the coming year projects total revenues of $415,812 and expenditures of $337,183.58, resulting in a positive balance of $75,628.42 on Sept. 30, 2021. 

West Point Mayor Gerald Schafer said the town has done a good job managing its finances and making sure it’s not spending too much money. 

“We’re doing good,” he said. “We’ve kept expenses down out here.”

Schafer said that mindset has allowed the town to pay for new projects that it would have otherwise had to borrow money for, such as a new paving project that was also approved during Monday night’s meeting. 

The council approved the paving of a 1.9 mile stretch of County Road 1141, running from County Roads 1246 to 1117, for $283,622, and Schafer said the town should have enough money in the bank to pay for the project outright. 

“I look at this about like I would run my house,” he said. “I’m pretty conservative, so you save up money and pay for it, you don’t go into debt.”

The council also received reports on its 2018 and 2019 audits from Tony Turbyfill, a Certified Public Accountant with Segroves & Company. 

Turbyfill said the town’s audits did not find any major issues in the town’s finances, and West Point looked to be in order over the past two years. 

“Y’all are probably in better shape than any of the other audits that I do,” he said. 

From Sept. 30, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2018, the town had an increase of around $146,000 to its net position, which is basically the net worth of the town, and from Sept. 30, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019, the town saw an increase of around $175,000, Turbyfill said. 

“Things are steadily progressing in your favor financially,” he said. 

While there were no major issues to report, Turbyfill did point out that he would like the town’s parks and recreation department to keep better records of the payments that umpires receive during ball season, which would require something like an invoice that the umpires sign to acknowledge the number of games they worked and the pay they are receiving.

“We just need to have some kind of documentation to work off of,” he said. “Nothing that’s going to take a lot of time.”

Turbyfill also recommended the town have a contingency plan in place during the COVID-19 outbreak that would let more than one person be able to access the town’s finances. 

Currently, Town Clerk Joann Jones keeps track of finances using QuickBooks, so it would be better if someone else is able to get into the system in the event that Jones had to miss some time, he said.

“Be proactive in making sure you’ve got a continuity plan in place,” he said.

Other than those small suggestions, the audit didn’t result in any other recommendations for the town and how it manages its finances, and the town has been able to complete projects like the Alabama 157 turn lane and adding security features to the town hall over the last two years, Turbyfill said. 

“I think everything is looking very well as far the financials are concerned,” he said.