During the past year, the Outlook and Record have done an excellent job of highlighting the precarious financial condition of Tallapoosa County and raising concerns about how some commissioners continue to push the huge debt payoff far into the future. This will likely be a major concern in the annual audit expected soon from the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts and will show that our county is in trouble.

The adjoining chart reflects data taken from past annual audits and will reveal just how much trouble the county is in. As you can see, the county’s debt has been on a never-ending climb because commissioners keep borrowing on already borrowed money. For example, last year (2005) Commissioners Bill Thweatt, Johnny Allen and Dylan Oliver voted to borrow $7,445,000 with a debt payoff date to the year 2035. When this new loan is added to nearly a dozen loans already on the books, the county’s current indebtedness is $17,300,000. That should concern all county residents.