WELAKA, Fla. — The clock is ticking for one Putnam County town.
The town of Welaka hasn’t filed financial audits in years, leaving it in hot water with the state.
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Action News Jax Investigator Emily Turner obtained the internal records showing a failure to report finances appropriately and the consequences of that.
Background
Each municipality has to file an audit with the state showing how it spends its money to ensure accountability, improve financial management, and maintain public trust. For years, Welaka failed to do that as required.
Internal emails show all of this happened on the watch of then-mayor Jamie Watts, a mayor we’ve already told you faced a sexting scandal that put the town on shaky legal ground and allegations of harassment and revenge porn. Now, records show his inaction put the town’s funding at risk.
The Timeline
Starting in 2023, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee made Watts aware Welaka was out of compliance and the consequences of that.
In a February 2023 email from the Joint Legislative Audit Commission, the body that regulates municipal audits, told Watts, “if the required report(s) are not submitted... the JLAC committee will notify the Department of Revenue and the Department of Financial Services to proceed with enforcement.”
JLAC followed up multiple times, finally instructing the Department of Revenue to withhold funds from the town until the required audits were completed.
RELATED: Welaka leaders authorize investigation into failure to complete mandatory audits
In a July 2024 letter to the state CFO JLAC said, “the town has still not submitted the AFR and the audit report for the 2021-22 fiscal year... the committee directs that the Department of Revenue and Department of Financial Services withhold any funds ... until the required financial reports have been received.”
The town finally filed the report at the end of last year, under the leadership of the new, interim mayor. Who, records show, didn’t learn of the problem until late last year and in a February 2025 email back to JLAC said, “these reports are so disturbing” and planned a town meeting to bring it to light.
The Consequences
In the meantime, those same records show the state withheld a total of $26,831.79 because of the delay.
That money has since been released, but more could be withheld, and the town could lose its charter if it doesn’t respond to the state by Friday and file the remaining audits within 45 days.
The Fallout
The town attorney briefed the town council and the public on Tuesday. There was frustration among elected officials like Councilwoman Kimberly Dugger who had no idea this was going on for years.
“We had been warned several times and none of us knew anything about it,” Dugger said.
Frustrated with the way this was handled, Jessica Finch, the interim mayor also spoke up ahead of the town’s next mayoral election.
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“I couldn’t let this go to the next person who is gonna step into this blindly. Seems like Mayor (Watts) was made aware the city wouldn’t get tax money in August, but council just learned today,” Finch said.
Welaka residents chimed in as well, expressing outrage with how this was allowed to happen.
One told leaders, “Money and finances in this town seem to be like nobody wants to touch that stuff because it’s never on anyone’s mind. So this is your wake-up call. Time to wake up.”
The Pushback
Watts was also at the meeting and spoke, defending himself. He claims he would have acted had he known about the correspondence with JLAC but didn’t have access to his email because he claims he was forced out of office.
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Records show he was made aware a year prior to him leaving office, however.
He also blamed the town clerk, saying, “We hired a clerk who was green, she came in, had no training ... there was no malicious intent here, the clerk had a lot she was trying to deal with.”
Action Taken
The council voted to hire an outside group to investigate the issue and help get in compliance with the state.
Council member Dugger also raised concerns about what else that may uncover, saying, “We already know we don’t have bank reconciliations, we already know our figures are not accurate, our ledgers are not accurate, our receipts are lacking ... What is our investigation going to find”
The town council plans to meet every month on the issue until it is resolved.
Welaka’s Response to the State
On Friday, Action News Jax obtained a new letter sent by Interim Mayor Jessica Finch to JLAC responding to the state’s concerns.
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