PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Since Hurricane Michael nearly devastated Mexico Beach, the city has faced major management challenges, raising concerns among residents. Earlier this month, the Joint Legislative Committee of Florida (JLAC) shared the findings of the rigorous audit conducted from February through December 2024.
Through the audit, the Inspector General’s Office found that Mexico Beach experienced a significant management turnover from January 2020, through August 2024. This included 3 terminations of City Administrator, leaving the position vacant for 78 days, 3 terminations of City Accountant, leaving the position vacant for 495 days, and 2 terminations of City Clerk.
The city also did not submit the required annual audited financial statements and reports to the Auditor General and Department of Financial Services in a timely manner for the 2020-21 through 2022-23 fiscal years. The audit concluded that the city accountant turnover was the primary reason for these issues.
“Even in a very small town, there are very important deadlines that we have to make. When we don’t have somebody in that position, in the accountant position, or in the finance director position, there is nobody else really with the procedural knowledge that’s going to take care of that. So when the position is vacant, that just does not get done, and that was the case in Mexico Beach,” said Chris Truitt, Mexico Beach City Administrator.
The loss and chaos caused by Hurricane Michael were also a big reason for the issues found in the audit.
“When you are in a situation like Mexico Beach was in when the entire city was essentially leveled, you have nothing left, you are in survival mode, you are just trying to get basic services back up and running. When you are in that survival mode, you don’t always have somebody waiting to take a look at everything, dot your i’s and cross your t’s,” said Truitt.
Additionally, the auditor found no indications of fraud in Mexico Beach and said that if they see something that looks really questionable, they will send a copy of the report to the state attorney or FDLE.
Mexico Beach has hired new employees in recent months to make up for the past turnovers, including a new Finance Director two months ago and a City Administrator 4 months ago. They have updated their policy and procedures, changed their internal systems, and ensured a positive environment for employees.
“We created a new checklist, a new procedure, as you’re going down the bid process, you’re checking off yes, we completed this process, yes, we put it out, and we then later go through each individual bid and make sure those things do actually exist. So if for some reason we missed it on the front side, we’re going to catch it on the back side and get that documentation into the record,” said Truitt.
The Inspector General’s Office will return to Mexico Beach within 18 months for a follow-up, and city officials assure that all issues will be resolved by then.
Mexico Beach’s JLAC Progress Report can be found HERE.
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