Robersonville gains financial control back from the state, continuing a positive trend | Eastern North Carolina Now

The small town of Robersonville, population 1,249, in Martin County, is once again in charge of its finances, as the state restored financial control to the town at Tuesday’s Local Government Commission meeting.

ENCNow
    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is Theresa Opeka.

    The small town of Robersonville, population 1,249, in Martin County, is once again in charge of its finances, as the state restored financial control to the town at Tuesday's Local Government Commission meeting.

    "We have 549 mayors in North Carolina," North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell said in a press release. "Mayor [Tina] Brown stands out because she came before the commission in 2020 and thanked the LGC staff for making a difficult choice that was in the best interest of her town and her constituents. We never want to assume financial control of a town, and don't take that decision lightly."

    The LGC impounded the town's books and assumed control of its financial affairs on Oct. 6, 2020, after the town failed to submit two consecutive annual audits as required; did not maintain an accounting system to detail assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenditures; didn't comply with generally accepted principles of government accounting; and didn't create a plan to remedy the issues.

    Brown became the town's mayor in December 2019.

    "When she ran for mayor, she had no idea the town was in the condition it was in," Folwell said. "Through tough choices, discipline, and communication with our staff, she and other town officials reversed course. They determined what was right, how to get it right, and are now on course to keep it right,"

    "We weren't expecting to have to surrender our town to the state, but I am glad that we went through what we went through because it makes us better and stronger, and it just shows that we are resilient," said Brown. "And this is just the beginning,"

    Folwell, who chairs the LGC, presented Brown with a symbolic key to the city during a brief recognition ceremony at Tuesday's meeting.

    The town's removal from the list of local governments under the state's financial control continues a slow but positive trend.

    Pikeville in Wayne County was the last town to regain complete control over all its finances, in December after 20 months of state control.

    "State personnel came in and straightened out all the mess that we created and left us in a wonderful place," said Pikeville Mayor Garrett Johnston in a press release issued by the North Carolina State Treasurer's Office in December. "We are a poster child of LGC's success. I would be happy to be a spokesman to any town that's being stubborn about working with the LGC because it's a huge asset."

    The LGC voted to impound the town's books on April 13, 2021. At the time, Pikeville had only 4.8% of unrestricted available funds to meet its $765,000 budget and was in jeopardy of missing five payments totaling $158,000 of debt.

    Kingstown in Cleveland County, Cliffside Sanitary District in Rutherford County, Eureka in Wayne County, and Spring Lake in Cumberland County, are the four towns remaining under the financial control of the LGC.

poll#209
In the minds of many, since January 20, 2021, the World has become far less safe in every theater of conflict, beginning with the attack of Israel by Iran /Hamas, so the question becomes: What caused this Worldwide calamity of extreme geopolitical dysfunction, and what will correct it?
  Joe Biden is the cause of this frightening Worldwide situation, and it will end when a Republican is elected president.
  This delayed Worldwide dysfunction and constant conflict is all Donald Trump's fault, as it is with everything that occurs going forward, and long before the man ever became the 45th president..
  Joe Biden is the "root cause" of this frightening Worldwide situation, and it will end when former President Donald John Trump is elected president.
  In the imitable words of Alfred E. Newman: "What, me worry?"
438 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Riggs leads 2-1 Appeals Court decision upholding state SAFE Child Act Carolina Journal, Statewide, Editorials, Government, Op-Ed & Politics, State and Federal NCInnovation Looks a Lot Like “Bidenomics;” Has Strong Ties to Dems


HbAD0

Latest State and Federal

Walgreens could "enter the dangerous spiral of being an ever-shrinking business.”
Several of the Craig family members who lived next to each other were in the direct path of a deadly mudslide caused by the flooding.

HbAD1

Fawzia Amin Sido was rescued "in a complex operation coordinated between Israel, the United States, and other international actors."
DailyWire+ viewers can get exclusive pre-show analysis and a post-debate breakdown from Daily Wire hosts.
"She’s trying to con the public like she did a good job at the border when, in fact, she has destroyed the very fabric of our Nation..."
Unbeknownst to Hezbollah, Israel had been secretly manufacturing the pagers that Hezbollah was buying for years.
Ohio Republican said the rhetoric coming from the political Left is "out of control."
North Carolina Treasury Secretary Dale Folwell, and now, challenging for the seat of North Carolina's governor visits with Eastern North Carolina NOW's publisher, Stan Deatherage, to discuss the multiple jobs of the Secretary, his commitment to performance, and that lurking elected position hence.

HbAD2

Any “bounce” that Vice President Kamala Harris may have gotten from last month’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) appears to have evaporated, according to the most recent New York Times/Siena poll out on Sunday.

HbAD3

 
Back to Top