Addie McCluskey
Elmore Autauga News
The Prattville Finance Committee met on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at City Hall to discuss the Autauga County Board of Education’s (ACBOE’s) request for funding from the city council and county commission for a new high school.
“This is just the first step in the process for us to start determining what our answer will be to that,” said Michael Whaley, chairman of the finance committee and city council president. “We are going to start by looking at this worst-case scenario and saying that, if the county has nothing, the ask for us is $6 million.”
Whaley then referred to Chief Finance Officer Daniel Oakley for a presentation on the city’s finances and potential avenues for funding the ACBOE’s request.
“I have kind of an overarching goal in that I want to make sure that whatever information we provide is both factual and transparent to the public,” said Oakley. “I don’t want any misinformation out there or too many assumptions, so I have a few basic assumptions for you guys to look at.”
Oakley emphasized that all calculations were based on several assumptions: that the $6 million per year request is accurate, the total project cost of $150 million is accurate, and ongoing facility maintenance costs would be covered within the remaining ACBOE budget.
“I also want to kind of go through and give the generic structure of what this type of thing would look like,” said Oakley. “It would be anticipated that the city and other public entities that partner on this would have to create what we call a cooperative district.”
Oakley explained that under a cooperative district structure, if other entities were to default on their portion of payments, the city would not be held responsible for the full cost of the project, but only for its share.
He then outlined the city’s finances and identified areas within the budget that could potentially be allocated toward the project, noting the importance of not overextending any single funding source.
Following the presentation, District 3 Councilor John Chambers asked whether infrastructure improvement costs—particularly for Old Ridge Road and Fairview—had been considered in Oakley’s calculations.
“This is purely taking a look at their [ACBOE’s] ask for the debt service portion,” said Oakley. “That is a very good point that that is an additional cost that would be on the city if something like that is required up in that area.”
District 6 Councilor Robert Strichik also raised questions about calculating the project’s return on investment for the city, but Oakley noted there is no definitive way to quantify that. Following the discussion, Whaley wrapped up the meeting.
“Looking at where we are now and the potential options for revenue streams, we almost have to have every one of them to make it work,” said Whaley. “As important as education is to our community, it is also important for us as council members to ensure that we continue to deliver the same services at the same level that the people who have elected us to sit up here expect from us.”
With that in mind, the committee determined that the next step would be to schedule a work session with the city council after the results of the area traffic study are available, as those findings will significantly impact budget flexibility.
For previous coverage on the topic, visit Autauga superintendent seeks funding for new high school on CACC campus.
