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 financially troubled local governments, applying its oversight criteria to larger municipalities that historically may have been left off the state’s assistance list.
Cary, Greensboro, Rocky Mount and Zebulon are among the larger government units being placed on the commission’s updated Unit Assistance List based on fiscal 2025 audit reports, the Department of State Treasurer announced Friday.
The list is used to identify counties, municipalities, utility authorities and other local-government units that may require additional monitoring or financial-management assistance.
Historically, larger governments that met the list’s criteria were not always included when commission staff determined that those governments had sufficient internal resources to address their problems. The commission said it is ending that distinction and applying the standards more consistently regardless of a government’s size.
“Financial concerns should be taken seriously regardless of the size of the local government,” State Treasurer Brad Briner said.
The decision has statewide oversight implications because the Local Government Commission monitors the financial condition of more than 1,100 local-government units. Briner chairs the commission, which is staffed by the Department of State Treasurer.
Rocky Mount remains under enhanced monitoring as state staff work with municipal officials to address financial and operational concerns, according to the department.
The Unit Assistance List helps the commission determine how to allocate its monitoring and assistance resources. The fall 2025 list, which was based on fiscal 2024 audits, included 146 counties, municipalities and utility authorities or districts.
The complete September 2026 list will be published after all affected governments have been notified.
Placement on the list signals that a government meets financial or operational criteria requiring additional attention. The department’s announcement did not say that the commission had assumed control of any of the four governments identified in the release.
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.