Marion Under Scrutiny By AG For Questionable Utility Records
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office has confirmed it is investigating the City of Marion, the county seat for Perry County. At issue is an alleged $1.7 million in missing utility payments.
A subpoena from Assistant Chief Deputy Brad A. Chynoweth served last week states that city of some 3,000 residents is being investigated for alleged violation of the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The subpoena requires the city to provide records created, dated or modified from October 1, 2021, to the present day by April 30th. The state alleges independent audits for the city of Marion in the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years “could not be certified due to the inadequacy of accounting records and unrecorded general ledgers.”
Marion Mayor Dexter Hinton has already requested an extension of that deadline due to the amount of work required to organize the documents requested by a city with limited staff already strained by dealing with daily city business.
The money strapped city has delt with numerous water issues in recent years from broken generators to busted pipes and other issues.
Hinton believes once the AG's office receives and reviews the requested documents, they will see that the city has nothing to hide.
Marion and Perry County are considered an economically distressed area with household Median Income levels between $17,413 and $24,000 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Federal data indicates the poverty rate is somewhere between 20% and 30%.
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