- August 14, 2026
Daytona Beach commissioners are looking to add the city's utility billing system to the city auditor's workload after Commissioner Quanita May said she has repeatedly heard concerns from residents about unusually high bills.
May raised the issue during commission comments at the Aug. 5 City Commission meeting, saying residents in different parts of Zone 3 have approached her about their utility costs.
May said she has been spending time with residents in their neighborhoods to better understand the issues they are experiencing. One concern, she said, continues to surface: utility bills that residents believe are too high.
May said residents have shared their bills and receipts with her, prompting questions about how the city's billing process works. She also said she learned that in at least one circumstance the city uses estimates based on information from a year earlier.
"What I'd like to know is if the commission would be interested in supporting an audit of the utilities," May said.
May emphasized that requesting an audit does not mean she believes the city has done anything wrong. Instead, she said an independent review could either identify problems or confirm that the current process is working properly.
"It's more about correcting a process or validating a process," May said. "I've heard it too often."
Commissioner Stacy Cantu questioned where a utility audit would fall among the auditor's existing assignments, asking whether the auditor had completed his work involving the city's marina.
May said she wanted the utility review added to the auditor's list. She again told commissioners that the goal would be to improve the process if necessary while giving residents confidence in the city's billing system.
"I think the residents would feel more at ease," May said. "And if there's a mistake, we catch it now."
Commissioner Ken Strickland said he would support expanding the auditor's work but added a condition about how the findings should be released.
"I'll be in favor of the auditor doing another audit to anything, as long as he brings his findings before this dais right here before he goes to the TV station," Strickland said.
Cantu later returned to the issue and said she believed commissioners had previously agreed collectively on the order of the auditor's assignments.
"We did agree on the marina first and then he can go to utilities. Correct?" Cantu asked.
"If that is what we decide. Absolutely," May responded.
The discussion comes as Daytona Beach awaits findings from other work being conducted by the city auditor. Later in the meeting, Mayor Derrick Henry said he hoped audit findings would be presented by the end of August and said the process could help restore confidence in city operations.
"Because the truth is that it has impacted the confidence of people who invest in the community and it has impacted the confidence of the people who live here."
Henry said the findings should allow the city to determine which concerns are legitimate, identify any problems and make improvements where needed. He said questions surrounding city operations have affected confidence among both residents and people considering investing in the community.
