Lawton City Council begins budget process

Members of the City Council will meet in special session today to launch the process for the 2024-2025 budget.

The meeting, which begins at 2 p.m. in the auditorium of Lawton City Hall, also will include an update on the audit of the 2021-2022 budget year, a process council members have been following closely because the audit is late in being completed.

The agenda item specifies the council will vote to accept the financial statements and audit report, as presented by FORVIS LLP. That firm was the public accounting agency hired to complete the audit after city staff provided the documentation needed for the process. By federal law, governmental entities must audit their financial records at the end of every fiscal year, with any findings and recommendations presented to the governing body before being accepted. Work also is under way for the audit on the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2023.

The key point of the meeting is allowing the City Council to enter the process of creating the budget that will guide expenditures and project revenues for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Traditionally, city department heads and administrators begin work in December or January to craft the preliminary budget numbers and plans that are presented to the council in the early spring. The budget does not become final until the council formally approves it, and council members typically hold a series of special meetings to consider different aspects of the budget before submitting it to a public hearing for residential comment then voting it into place.

By law, the budget must be in place at least seven days before the new fiscal year begins July 1.