Progress You Can See
The City of Clay is committed to being a city you can be proud of.
Since November 2025, the new administration for the City of Clay, Alabama, under the leadership of Mayor Anderton, has been doing the work of getting organized and compliant. We have been making meaningful strides towards opening communication and strengthening public access to civic information all while building a local government that works for you.
Here's a look at some of what we've accomplished:
First Amendment Rights and Social Media
We restored the community members who were blocked from the official City Facebook Page. Since the city’s Facebook page is considered a public forum, we want to make sure all voices can be heard. We launched a YouTube page to stream all pre-council and council meetings to increase transparency in legislation. We adopted an employee social media handbook so there are clear guidelines about who has the authority to post, what they can post, and how to handle sensitive situations. We launched a new, modern website with an intuitive user experience, a mobile-friendly site, working forms to contact the city, and a search feature for documents as well as pages.
Business Licenses
We corrected the City's non-compliant business license system by partnering with Nuemo to handle administration and sales tax. This brings the process into alignment with the City's municipal licensing authority under Ala. Code § 11-51-90 and improves accountability, consistency, and ease of administration.
Permitting
We launched a compliant permitting system to ensure regulatory consistency, better documentation, and clearer public accountability in the City's building department.
Meeting Management
We adopted a city council meeting management system to improve how agendas are prepared, how meeting records are kept, and how the City meets its public-meeting obligations.
Official .gov Domain
We secured an official .gov domain for the City, strengthening public trust, cybersecurity, and the credibility of City communications and services. Additionally, the current .org domain costs an annual registrar fee, while .gov is free for verified government organizations.
Payroll & Background Checks
We implemented a new payroll system and background-check process to reduce administrative burden, improve recordkeeping, and support compliance with federal employment requirements.
Chart of Accounts
We established a new Chart of Accounts to give the City a clearer, more accurate picture of revenues, expenditures, fund activity, and budget performance.
Purchase-Card System
We introduced a purchase-card system to bring better accountability, documentation, and transparency to routine City purchasing.
Ordinance Codification
We initiated the first-ever codification of the City's ordinances its 26 year history, which will organize all Clay laws into a single, accessible, and enforceable body of law. This effort is supported by the City's general ordinance authority under Ala. Code § 11-45-1, which authorizes municipalities to adopt and enforce ordinances for the safety, health, prosperity, order, comfort, and convenience of the community.
MuniDocs Public Document Repository
In connection with the codification project, we launched MuniDocs as an online home for City public documents, which will improve public access, transparency, and long-term recordkeeping. The 42 binders of ordinances, proclamations, resolutions, etc., currently housed at City Hall will soon be online and available to the public.
Financial Platform Modernization
We began transitioning the City's financial records from QuickBooks Enterprise to QuickBooks Online, modernizing the platform and improving accessibility, continuity, and data management.
QuickBooks Enterprise was hosted on a local server at City Hall which reaches End of Life this year. The backup server was located in the same room, which means in case of a natural disaster, all information would have been lost. With QuickBooks Online, information is now protected against theft, natural disasters, or local hardware failures.
And here’s a look at the future:
Building Code Effectiveness (BCEGS)
Work continues to address the City's current "99" designation under the ISO/Verisk Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS). 99 is the lowest possible classification and effectively means there was not enough of a functioning system to assess. The usual grading scale is 1-10, and this 99 comes from lacking an adopted building code, an active permitting process, documented inspections, and qualified staff. Insurance companies use BCEGS ratings when calculating premiums for property owners and businesses. A 99 designation results in higher insurance costs for residents and commercial property owners in Clay because insurers treat it as an unknown or high-risk jurisdiction for construction quality and code enforcement. Working to receive a real classification from ISO/Verisk is a priority because it directly affects the City's ability to demonstrate responsible oversight of construction activity.
Comprehensive Plan & Zoning Update
The City is looking to update its comprehensive plan, which is a required first step before modernizing the zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations. Alabama law governs municipal planning, subdivision regulation, and zoning under Title 11, Chapter 52, including master-plan provisions (Ala. Code § 11-52-8), subdivision-regulation authority (Ala. Code §§ 11-52-30 and 11-52-31), and the requirement that zoning regulations align with a comprehensive plan (Ala. Code § 11-52-72).
DYS Property
The City will develop a long-range plan for the DYS property and begin work consistent with the City's land-use goals, public needs, available funding, and lawful municipal authority.