Centreville Mayor Oakley Remarks On Recent Financial Audits

Centreville Mayor Oakley Remarks On Recent Financial Audits

Reported by Centreville Press

August 10, 2025

The City of Centreville and the Centreville Water & Sewer Board received its FY 2024 financial audit from Don Wallace, CPA on August 4 & 5, 2025 at regular meetings. The audits cover the period from 10/1/2023 to 9/30/2024.

The city and water board audits are published here [below] and available for viewing by clicking on the link(s). We will be adding video of the audit presentation by Don Wallace. Check back to this page for updates.

The Centreville Press asked Mayor Oakley to respond to the audit reports and his full response is printed below.

From Mayor Oakley:

I entered the Office of Mayor after a 2020 election, taking office in November, 2020. As is customary, when I came into office the annual budget for the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year was already in place and carried over from the previous administration. Most newly elected Mayors rely on in-place staff for orientation to the office and many take their full first year in office to become accustomed to municipal accounting and financial procedures. They are complex, difficult to understand, and challenging to master.

During my first year in office we were made aware of systemic dissatisfaction and problems in the water department billing system, along with staff unhappiness with the financial reporting system for both the water department and the city. Customers complained about the lack of an online payment portal. As you should know, the water department and city books are kept separately. Some employees and expenses are shared between the water department and the city.

During FY 2022 a decision was made and approved by the water board to purchase and switch our water department accounting to new software. In addition to customer billing software a decision was subsequently made to add new financial system reporting software for the water department and the city.  This decision was approved by city council.

The implementation of the new software began in FY 2022 and carried over into FY 2023. We soon learned that the new financial management software was not easier to use, as advertised, but more complicated and difficult to manage. The software was not capable of delivering the monthly financial balance sheets and budget statements that the water board and city council asked for.

As time progressed and frustration with the financial reporting system mushroomed we reached a crossroads in FY 2023 and abandoned the new financial management software, returning to a prior accounting product. During that process our City Clerk and the Water Department Clerk accepted other employment, leaving within weeks of each other. By the time the FY 2024 ended significant changes were already underway to address record keeping, expense documentation,  financial reporting,  and financial management issues.

The unpleasant revelations in the auditor’s FY 2024 report were not unexpected. By the time the report was delivered in August 2025 the problems reported have already been addressed for the management issues. New requirements for bookkeeping and expense documentation are in place. New personnel and new internal business control policies and procedures, recommended by the auditor,  are already in place.

Going forward we will have to deal with some past complex water department and garbage collection billing issues to determine if the issues reported were intentional or caused by the stubborn new software that we abandoned. These processes are already underway.

As you review the auditor’s written report, which is a public record, please consider that we have complete financial audits every year. Audits are a lookback at a previous fiscal year with suggestions on where and how the city and water departments need to improve. We began making the necessary corrections at the end of FY 2023 and are well on our way to a fantastic FY 2025.

Fiscal oversight of the city and water department finances are a joint activity and responsibility between the Mayor, city council, and water board. We all have a vested stake in the outcome and management of the city’s business and the interests of the voter and taxpayer. Once a problem has been identified it takes all parties, working together, to bring a resolution to the problem. With the assistance of all of the stakeholders in this financial issue we will move forward.

The financial challenges of small and rural towns in Alabama is not unique to Centreville. If you read the news you know many cities, large and small, are currently facing economic challenges. Every living Centreville former Mayor and former councilman, if asked, will confirm the financial challenges of small town leadership in a declining economic tax base and slow or null economic growth.

In this political season our political opponents will claim that the “sky is falling” and “financial ruin” is imminent. They will point to the most recent audit as their proof. They should review the same financial audits of the last 25 years to learn more about the subject. We urge you not to be swayed by their campaign drum beat and to consider carefully who you will vote for as the next Mayor.

I respectfully ask for your vote in this 2025 election cycle so that our city may benefit from past experience and continue to move forward with seasoned leadership for the coming fiscal years. Many clearly visible positive projects for our City are well underway under my leadership and we hope you will recognize those achievements and vote to continue the current path of progress.

Please vote on August 26, 2025 and make Oakley your choice for Mayor.

/s Mike Oakley, Mayor