Billing records raise questions about how Fort Valley’s finance contract grew from $68,000 to nearly $188,000 with no full council vote.
FORT VALLEY, Ga. — The City of Fort Valley contracted a finance director for $68,640 over six months.
By February, billing records obtained by 13WMAZ show the city had paid nearly $188,000 — almost three times the agreed-upon amount — with no full mayor and council vote authorizing the difference.
At the center of the dispute is Danny Lamonte, who served as the city’s contracted finance director through a company called Municipal Central. Lamonte told 13WMAZ he walked into one of the worst financial situations he had seen in his 25 years of experience — unreconciled bank accounts, IRS compliance issues, and years of missing financial records. He says the extra work was necessary and fully authorized.
Last week, the Fort Valley City Council voted 4 to 3 to renew Lamonte’s contract.
Fort Valley hired Municipal Central on Aug. 21, 2025, to handle day-to-day financial operations for the city — effectively serving as its interim finance director. The original contract, signed by then-City Administrator Gary Lee and Lamonte, called for 24 hours of work per week at $110 per hour for six months, totaling $68,640.
The contract included a provision allowing the city administrator to authorize additional hours beyond that scope, should the need arise.
Weeks later, a contract amendment was signed by Lee and Lamonte — again, without a full mayor and council vote. That amendment added bank reconciliations for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025, at a reduced rate of $75 per hour, to be performed by junior staff. The total estimated cost for that additional work: $14,625, based on an estimated 195 hours across three fiscal years, or roughly 65 hours per year.
The amendment also required Lamonte to provide detailed journal entries, supporting schedules and process improvements. According to billing records obtained by 13WMAZ, not a single invoice listed an hourly breakdown.
William Bennett, a certified public accountant based in Fort Valley who reviewed the billing documents for 13WMAZ, says the numbers simply do not add up.
“The contract called for to be billed at a rate of $75 an hour, and none of those invoices reflect that rate — it’s almost like the city is being charged a flat rate per month,” Bennett said.
A December 2025 invoice reviewed by 13WMAZ shows nine separate city bank accounts — including the General Fund, Payroll, Technology, ARPA, Sanitation and multiple SPLOST accounts — each billed at a flat monthly rate multiplied by 12, meaning Lamonte billed an entire year’s worth of fees per account in one lump sum, Bennett said.
The General Fund alone was billed at $500 per month times 12 months — $6,000 for that account. Other accounts ranged from $250 to $350 per month, also multiplied by 12. The total for that single invoice: $33,000. The contract amendment required billing at $75 per hour. Not a single hourly rate appeared anywhere on the document.
The total billed for bank reconciliation work alone exceeded $51,000 — more than three times the amendment’s own estimate.
In the early months of the contract, monthly billing ran between $7,000 and $11,000 — consistent with the original 24-hour work week. But records show the billing spiked dramatically in later months: $33,000 in a single December invoice and another $18,900 in January 2026.
In his written response to 13WMAZ, Lamonte acknowledged that his team worked between 35 and 40 hours per week — well above the 24 hours per week authorized in the original contract. He argued the city administrator had the authority to approve those additional hours under the contract’s language.
“It’s not that the time gets approved — it’s as we get to that total value of that contract, somebody’s responsible to the mayor and council to advise them that our contract has now exceeded the value that they approved,” Bennett said.
Gary Lee, the city administrator who signed both the original contract and the amendment and who authorized the additional hours, is no longer with the city. He resigned earlier this year, not in connection to this situation.
In a written statement, Mayor Reeves says a closer look at the city’s own financial records raises questions about where the money actually went. According to the mayor, a vendor activity report dated Nov. 24, 2025, shows $59,930 in payments attributed to Municipal Central — but said a review of bank statements shows those ACH transfers were drawn from the city’s General Fund and deposited directly into a Business Central Solution account.
Mayor Reeves also says in her written statement that Lamonte was listed as the creator of his own ACH electronic transfers to his company — approved by a city staffer who, according to the city charter, was not an authorized signer. In an email to the mayor, the staffer acknowledged processing the transfers but said everything she did was directed and authorized by the city administrator and her direct supervisor.
Mayor Reeves says Lamonte also had signature authority on city bank accounts, allowing him to write and sign checks payable under his own contract — a setup in which one person controlled both sides of the transaction. She says Fort Valley’s own auditors had flagged that exact separation of duties violation in prior audit reports for years.
“You would never hire an outside finance person, give them signature authority and basically the ability to pay themselves with very little approval,” Bennett said.
Mayor Reeves also says in her written statement that purchase orders were created retroactively — after payments had already been processed — bypassing the city’s standard approval process. In government accounting, purchase orders exist to ensure money cannot leave before it is properly approved.
At a city council meeting last week, council members heard the concerns raised by Mayor Reeves and voted 4 to 3 to renew Lamonte’s contract regardless. Council members Henry Howard, Laronda Eason, Alton Howard and Juanita Bryant voted in favor. Mayor Reeves, along with council members Donald J. Williams and Sandra Marshall, voted against.
Councilwoman Bryant defended the decision during the meeting, arguing Lamonte had delivered significant results for the city including resolving long-standing IRS issues and recovering funds.
Lamonte told 13WMAZ he resolved the city’s IRS compliance issues, recovered nearly $189,000 in duplicate sanitation payments and implemented a fraud prevention system — services he says improved the city’s financial standing significantly.
He also says he provided property tax administration and payroll system implementation services that he never billed the city for.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office records show Lamonte was arrested on Jan. 4, 2024, and charged with theft by conversion — a charge that alleges he knowingly converted funds belonging to another person or entity to his own use in violation of an agreement.
Fort Valley hired Lamonte just four months after that case was resolved.
When 13WMAZ asked Lamonte directly about the case, he called it “misleading information” and said it was “totally resolved and dismissed and did not have anything to do with Fort Valley or any other Municipality.”
The financial dispute comes at a particularly vulnerable moment for Fort Valley.
“Fort Valley right now is in a tough spot — we’re looking for a city administrator, looking for a police chief, and then if you leave finance open, those are three major areas of a city that really makes you vulnerable,” Bennett said.
Bennett says the true measure of whether the money was well spent will come when those audits are finally completed.
“The citizens are going to get an opportunity to see an audit report, and we’re going to be able to tell: was that money that we spent well spent, or do we still have all the audit issues that we’ve had,” he said.
In a written statement, Mayor Reeves says the city is calling for a forensic audit — an independent, line-by-line review of every financial transaction tied to the contract — at the state and federal level. She is also pushing for a comprehensive plan to collect property taxes, noting that Fort Valley does not operate its own utility system and has limited revenue streams.
“Strong internal controls, effective governance, and strategic planning are not optional; they are essential,” Reeves said in her statement.
The city is currently withholding Lamonte’s final check of $8,252, citing breach of contract.
The renewal contract, obtained by 13WMAZ, effective Feb. 22, 2026 — is now a 12-month contract, double the length of the original.