Prattville Finance Committee Reviews $6 Million Ask for New County High School

Prattville's roughly 15,200 households could each absorb an additional $395 a year if the city commits to the full funding level the Autauga County Board of Education is seeking to build a new high school. That number reflects only the worst-case scenario: what city staff modeled assuming Autauga County contributes nothing.

The Finance Committee convened April 2 at City Hall to formally open the city's review of the Board of Education's request for recurring annual contributions from both Prattville and the county. Superintendent Lyman Woodfin had brought the proposal directly to the city council and county commission on March 17, making the case that facilities built as far back as 1927, including Prattville Primary School, and a cluster of 1960s-era campuses are now operating beyond capacity. Without a funding partnership, Woodfin warned the school system could only afford to replace an elementary or junior high building, not a high school.

"I've seen several comments about how the current model we have is not sustainable," Woodfin said. "I may surprise you when I say that I completely agree with the statement."

The proposed solution is a new Prattville High School on the Central Alabama Community College campus. Getting there depends on whether the city, the county, or both agree to sustain the cost year after year.

Finance Committee Chairman and City Council President Michael Whaley opened the April 2 session by anchoring the discussion to the upper limit. "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," he said, before directing Chief Financial Officer Daniel Oakley to map the city's revenue streams, reserves, and potential financing paths.

Oakley pledged a process grounded in verifiable data. "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," he said.

Those answers carry real weight for city finances. A $6 million recurring commitment would rank among the largest new expenditures in the municipal budget, with direct pressure on property tax policy, capital reserves, and the funding available for city-delivered services. No public framework has been established yet for what oversight benchmarks or construction milestones would gate payments, or what recourse the city would have if those benchmarks slip.

The Prattville City Council, not the Board of Education, controls whether any city dollars are committed; the county commission faces the same decision independently. If Prattville declines or significantly reduces its share, the county would be left choosing among absorbing the difference, scaling back the school's scope, or shelving the high school project altogether.

Whaley acknowledged that no answer is imminent. "This is just the first step in the process for us to start determining what our answer will be to that," he said. The committee signaled it would request additional financial modeling from Oakley and hold further public sessions before sending any recommendation to the full council.