State expands financial-oversight standards to larger local governments
Cary, Greensboro, Rocky Mount and Zebulon are among the larger governments being added to a state assistance list based on fiscal 2025 audits.
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s Local Government Commission is changing how it identifies local governments for additional financial oversight, applying its standards more consistently to larger cities and towns that previously may have been left off the state’s assistance list.
Cary, Greensboro, Rocky Mount and Zebulon are among the larger governments being placed on the commission’s updated Unit Assistance List based on their fiscal 2025 audit reports, according to the Department of State Treasurer.
The list identifies counties, municipalities and public authorities that may need additional monitoring or assistance from the state.
Historically, larger governments that met the list’s financial criteria were not always included when commission staff determined those governments had enough personnel or other resources to correct the problems themselves. The commission said it is ending that practice and will apply the standards regardless of a government’s size.
“Financial concerns should be taken seriously regardless of the size of the local government,” Treasurer Brad Briner said in announcing the change.
Briner chairs the Local Government Commission, which is staffed by the Department of State Treasurer. The commission monitors the financial condition of more than 1,100 local government units and public authorities across North Carolina. It also reviews and approves most debt issued by those entities.
Rocky Mount remains under enhanced state monitoring as commission staff work with local officials on identified financial and operational concerns. State officials cited that experience as an example of why larger governments may benefit from earlier intervention.
The Unit Assistance List is also used to direct limited state oversight and assistance resources toward governments with identified problems.
The state has not yet released the complete September 2026 list. The Department of State Treasurer said it will publish the list after every affected government has been notified.
The previous list, based on fiscal 2024 audits and released in fall 2025, contained 146 counties, municipalities, utility authorities and districts.
Placement on the list does not mean the Local Government Commission has assumed control of a government’s finances. It indicates that the unit has met one or more standards for additional review, monitoring or technical assistance.
The change nevertheless broadens the practical reach of the state’s financial-oversight process by removing an informal distinction that sometimes kept larger governments off the published list.
Editor’s note:
This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
