Newly obtained records show the State of Alabama sent the City of Marion nearly $466,000 in grant funds on Nov. 20, including $290,142.05 in federal Community Development Block Grant money for road work in the Lincoln Heights community, while some vendors say their bills have gone unpaid even when the city’s books show checks written.
In a letter dated Nov. 12, 2025, Alabama-Tombigbee Regional Commission planning director Brandy Wilkerson told Mayor Dexter Hinton that ATRC had received invoices totaling $329,442.80 on the Lincoln Heights CDBG project. She wrote that ATRC had submitted a drawdown request to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) for $290,142.05 and directed the city to deposit that amount into its CDBG account, add $38,925.71 in local funds and then issue three checks: $12,000 to ATRC for administrative services, $25,500 to Utility Engineering Consultants and $291,942.80 to Central Alabama Asphalt for paving work.
An Open.Alabama payment detail sheet shows the state comptroller’s office recorded a total of $465,933.81 in payments to the City of Marion on Nov. 20, 2025. The document lists a $290,142.05 payment from ADECA, along with two separate payments from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, $68,350 and $107,441.76, both identified as ARPA Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds.
The payment month is listed as November 2025 and the date the city was paid as Nov. 20.
On Dec. 3, Wilkerson emailed Mayor Hinton, copying municipal treasurer Laura Williams-Hinton, to say she had attached the letter for CDBG drawdown No. 2. “The CDBG check should be arriving if it has not already,” she wrote. “ADECA wants to come in January to monitor this project, so we need to get these checks written as soon as possible. This money cannot be held longer than 10 days.” Five days later, on Dec. 8, Williams-Hinton forwarded Wilkerson’s message to the mayor, city council and city attorney, reminding them that “the CDBG funds can not be held longer than 10 days” and directing questions about the project to her office.
The documents provided to the Times-Standard-Herald confirm the amount and timing of the CDBG and ARPA payments and the instructions to pay the road contractor, engineer and grant administrator, but they do not show when the CDBG money was deposited or if checks were issued to those three vendors within the required 10-day timeframe. The newspaper has requested that information from city officials.
Separate records and communications obtained in December raise questions about how other city bills are being handled.
The city’s “General Fund – Month Ending November 30, 2025” check register lists a Nov. 5 check for $300 to Marion Veterinary Clinic, identified as check 8558, and two checks to Pruett Oil Company, Inc., check 8633 for $6,465.52 dated Nov. 4 and check 8668 for $3,173.84 dated Nov. 13. The same report shows checks to a number of other vendors for fuel, supplies and services.
According to text messages and other communications reviewed by the Times-Standard-Herald, people familiar with Marion Veterinary Clinic’s account say the last payment it received from the city was for September and that a November check listed on the city’s register had not arrived as of this week. People familiar with the city’s fuel accounts likewise say Pruett Oil Company had not received either of the November checks shown in the city’s register.
Email correspondence also shows a past-due bill from a chemical supplier used in the city’s water system. On Nov. 24, Betty Langley of Service Chemical Industries, Inc. emailed several city water officials and employees with “Invoice 132713 from Service Chemicals – 2” in the subject line. The attached notice states that invoice 132713 for $19,360.00 was due Oct. 17, 2025 and describes it as a “past due invoice,” asking the city to “remit payment at your earliest convenience.”
The invoice is for treatment chemicals used at Marion’s water plant. The records provided to the newspaper do not include a corresponding check or payment, and city officials have not yet responded to questions about whether that invoice, or any other outstanding invoices from the company, has been paid.
Earlier this month, an outside audit of Marion’s 2022 finances showed a deeply negative General Fund balance, more than $1.2 million in previously unrecorded accounts payable and debt, and a water utility whose net position has been one of the only positive balances on the city’s books. That audit also reported that the city had not kept full ledgers of what it owes vendors and lenders and that auditors were unable to verify more than $830,000 in water, sewer and garbage receivables.
The city’s water system has come under separate scrutiny from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management after repeated outages and boil-water notices. In November, ADEM told Marion that millions of dollars in grant funding to repair and upgrade the system could be at risk if the city does not submit required audits and other documentation. The Times-Standard-Herald has requested further documentation from both ADEM and the City regarding this issue, but has thus far received no response.
City officials have not discussed the CDBG drawdown, the November check register or the Service Chemical invoice in an open meeting. The Times-Standard-Herald has requested comment from Mayor Dexter Hinton, members of the Marion City Council and the city clerk and will report any response in its future coverage.
