Prichard Council Meeting Collapses Over $60,000 Gas Tax Transfer as Mayor Denies It Was Used for Payroll
Three council members walked out Thursday after a dispute over money moved and then returned, while some employees said their usual Thursday pay deposits had not arrived.
PRICHARD, Ala. — A dispute over city money and late paychecks boiled over Thursday night in Prichard, where a City Council meeting ended abruptly when three council members walked out before any votes had been taken.
At the center of the fight is $60,000 moved from the city’s gas tax fund to its general fund, in two transfers of $50,000 and $10,000. Council President Traci Hale and other members questioned whether the money was used to cover payroll. Mayor Carletta Davis flatly denied that, saying the money was for road repairs and was moved only because of an accounting problem.
The money has since been moved back, Davis said.
Questions over paychecks
The concerns came after some city employees said they did not receive their usual Thursday pay deposit, which banks make available before the Friday payday. Two employees said they had not been paid Thursday, and a city source said at least one paycheck was delayed in the previous payroll cycle because of low funds. Public works employees have also staged sit-in protests and filed grievances over pay and working conditions, and the city’s budget standoff has been deepening.
“That’s a serious issue,” Hale said of the transfers.
State law generally restricts gas tax revenue to transportation and road work.
“If they went and pull that money out of the gas tax to use for anything other than working on street, roads and bridges, then that’s a very serious legal matter,” said Councilwoman Annie Williams, who chairs the Finance Committee.
“Employees are reasonably and understandably very alarmed and concerned because they kind of build their lives around being paid on Thursday,” council attorney Moshae Donald-Walker said.
The mayor’s explanation
Davis said the money was intended for emergency drainage and street repairs on Whistler Street, citing a news release about the project earlier in the week.
“The seven cents gas tax can be used for improvements to roads and bridges,” she said.
She said the city has enough money to make payroll and that workers will be paid Friday, which is the official payday.
“Our payroll is on Friday. We’re legally obligated to make sure that the money is there on payday, which is on Friday,” she said.
Council members asked why the money had to be transferred at all rather than paid directly to a contractor. Davis said the city’s finance staff decided to go back to QuickBooks because of problems with the current system and its reports, and that QuickBooks would not yet allow checks to be cut from that account.
“So, the current comptroller and finance director decided we needed to go back to QuickBooks,” Davis said. “QuickBooks would not allow them to make a payment or cut a check out of that system yet, so therefore she transferred it to the general fund.”
Donald-Walker disputed that the system could not issue checks from the gas tax account.
“So, if that was a legal, lawful transfer – nothing to be ashamed of – why was it immediately transferred back?” she asked.
Davis said the finance director moved it back after questions were raised, “because of this public ostracizing that happens.”
“The money is not gone,” Davis told council members. “She didn’t put it in her pocket. She didn’t do anything illegal. … It’s nothing nefarious going on.”
The numbers
After the comptroller presented the finance report, Donald-Walker raised concerns about the figures.
“Friday is the payroll day, but they always get paid the Thursday before payroll day if the funds are available,” she said. “The Comptroller stated that $138,000 was left after all the expenses were paid, not to include payroll, and this week’s payroll was $160,000.”
That leaves a $22,000 gap between the reported amount and the cost of payroll.
The walkout
Tempers flared at the evening meeting, with heated exchanges and a citizen being asked to leave. Hale directed that the citizen be removed. Davis ordered law enforcement officers to let the citizen stay. Hale and two other council members then left the dais.
“I’m going to leave because I’m not going to be disrespected. We’ve been disrespected since we’ve been in here,” Williams said.
“We do not have a quorum. The meeting is over. You don’t be rude and start this BS. You need to stop!” Hale said, addressing the public.
Davis accused council members of misleading residents.
“Gaslighting the citizens, making up things about the administration, making up things about money being moved, fake investigations, all of those things is just horrible for relationships,” she said. “All of these things keep getting out in the public that are just innuendos and insinuations that are absolutely just tearing the city apart.”
The budget fight
Earlier this week, Davis posted on social media that the council needed to pass her proposed budget to address public works employees’ complaints about being overworked and underpaid.
“It was a reflection on the council, like it’s all our fault that the budget has not been paid, and that’s far from the truth,” Williams said.
The council sent Davis a memo outlining proposed budget changes. Members recommend reducing some spending on the mayor’s office, travel and public relations while giving raises to public works employees. They also say they need more information to verify the mayor’s revenue projections, including how the city is accounting for businesses that have closed and revenue from a data center that is not yet operating.
