EAST LAURINBURG — While it is unclear if East Laurinburg has approved a budget for the current fiscal year, state officials said they are still waiting to get a look at the town’s budget from the previous year.
According to the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, attempts have been made to obtain a copy of East Laurinburg’s budget since February.
The department has been working with East Laurinburg after it the small municipality was placed on the state’s Unit Assistance List.
The state does not typically review all municipalities budgets, but cities and towns with financial concerns are added to a list for the treasurer’s office to follow up with.
“Our preferred approach in working with all units, including those on the Unit Assistance List, is to be a resource for them,” said Karah Manning, State Treasurer communications manager. “As a result there is no immediate penalty for not responding. Staff will continue to follow up and try to determine why there is a delay.”
Part of the problem may be turnover in town government. The small municipality has had four financial officers over the last two years, Manning said.
“If there are concerns about a unit’s financial condition we request a copy of the budget, which must be adopted by June 30, so we would expect to have it by that date or shortly after but there is no hard deadline,” Manning said.
Manning said East Laurinburg needs to send the newly approved budget to the N.C. Department of State Treasurer before additional steps are taken. Those additional measures would include contacting elected officials of the municipality, which includes Mayor Wayne Caulder, Town Commissioners Tyresa Haywood, David Cooper, and Kenny Morton to assess penalties to the staff members responsible.
“If it is something we can assist with we will,” Manning said. “If it becomes apparent the unit’s staff is not going to respond, we would next notify the elected officials in the unit since we don’t have any authority to assess penalties.”
It is unclear if East Laurinburg failed to meet certain statutory requirements like notifying residents of the proposed budget and solicit public input, according to the UNC School of Government.
Under state law, on the same day that a budget officer submits a proposed budget to the governing board, he or she must file a copy of it in the clerk’s office. It must remain there, available for public inspection during normal office hours.
The clerk to the board is also required to make a copy of the proposed budget available to all news media in the county. During the regular June East Laurinburg town board meeting, the town denied a request made by the Laurinburg Exchange for a copy of the budget.
The board is also required to publish a statement that the budget has been submitted to the governing board and is available for public inspection in the clerk’s office. The statement must also state the time and place of the public hearing that the unit will hold on the budget.
No notice to the public for a public hearing regarding the budget can be found published with The Laurinburg Exchange.
Town officials say the budget was approved in May.
Repeated efforts to reach East Laurinburg Finance Officer Jennifer Lett were unsuccessful and no one was at the town’s office during regular business hours.