MAXTON — The town has recovered the entire $29,000 stolen from its bank account earlier this year, Mayor Emmett Morton revealed during Tuesday’s Board of Commissioner’s meeting.
In May, Morton told the town that he was informed through email around March of the missing money, but learned later that it was the result of a computer hack. Lumbee Guaranty Bank handles the town’s account. Lumbee Guaranty administrators were told banks in three other municipalities were victims of the same computer hack and an investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies was underway.
“That person has been caught,” Morton said Tuesday. “It was traced all the way back to Texas.”
The town’s insurance was able to cover about $13,000 of the missing money, and the town recently recovered the other $16,000, Morton said.
Morton attributed the recovery to the work of Maxton Police Chief John Ruppe.
Audit is good
In other business, the town received high praise from John Masters, of S. Preston Douglas & Associates, after he delivered the town’s 2019 audit.
“You should be commended for making the tough decisions needed for your town,” Masters said.
During his presentation, Masters told the commissioners that in 2018 the general fund balance was just over $1.5 million. That number has increased to about $2.5 million. Masters said it was an extreme jump from where the town was a decade ago when it had a general fund balance of about $100,000.
Property tax collections were also up, with 86.4% collected compared with a collection rate of 85% in 2018, Masters said.
Ordinance OK’d
Also on Tuesday, the commissioners unanimously voted to adopt a Flood Damage Mitigation Ordinance after holding a public hearing during which no one spoke.
The ordinance is designed to promote public health, safety and general welfare, and to minimize the public and private losses due to flooding within flood prone areas. The ordinance is a requirement for the town’s participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program. Being part of the program allows residents who wish to to enroll in flood insurance.
Commissioner Victor Womack asked what should residents do if they’re still denied flood insurance because a large portion of the county is in a flood zone.
“I would contact FEMA,” said Amber Davis, county Zoning and Planning specialist. “They should not deny you flood insurance. The cost may change.”
After adopting the ordinance the commissioners voted to enter an inter-local agreement that allows the Robeson County Inspection Department to enforce the ordinance.
Opioid lawsuit
The commissioners took no action Tuesday and thus agreed to participate in the opioids class-action lawsuit. All counties and municipalities in the country are automatically a plaintiff in the lawsuit, and have until Friday to decide if they wish to opt out.
The lawsuit says that manufacturers of prescription opioids “grossly misrepresented” the risks of long-term use of painkillers, and that distributors failed to monitor suspicious orders of those drugs. The plaintiffs claim those factors have greatly contributed to the ongoing opioid crisis.
“I say we stay in,” Commissioner Virgil Hutchinson said.
Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at [email protected] or 910-416-5865.
