RALEIGH – North Carolina’s Local Government Commission voted Tuesday to take financial control of Ronda and Rowland after state officials said both towns remained in serious fiscal trouble.
The commission’s action places the state body in charge of financial affairs for Ronda, in Wilkes County, and Rowland, in Robeson County. State Treasurer Brad Briner chairs the commission, which monitors the finances of more than 1,100 local government units across North Carolina.
The commission voted unanimously to assume control of Ronda. The treasurer’s office said the town had made no improvement after receiving a formal notice and warning in September. Ronda officials told the commission that the town board had begun a voluntary dissolution process, but local leaders had not reached an agreement on how to proceed.
For Rowland, state officials said the town remained in fiscal trouble after its own September warning. Local leaders told the commission that conditions were moving in the right direction, but commission staff said the town had not presented a clear path toward financial stability. The commission then voted to assume control of Rowland’s finances.
The state takeover is intended to keep bills paid and essential services operating while financial problems are addressed. It does not dissolve either town or remove the elected boards from nonfinancial policy decisions.
The commission’s published history lists 13 prior assumptions of financial control since 1997 before this week’s votes. Several ended when control was returned, while East Laurinburg’s takeover concluded with dissolution in 2022.
WUNC reported Wednesday that Ronda has about 400 residents and has relied on dwindling reserves while confronting a shrinking tax base.
The action is a material development from the commission’s September warnings. An earlier NC Political News article reported that Ronda and Rowland had been directed to submit corrective plans. Tuesday’s votes move both towns from warning status into direct state financial control.
Sources
- North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, Oct. 6, 2026
- Local Government Commission history and authority
- WUNC/WFDD, Oct. 7, 2026
Photo Credit: Wake Technical Community College via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. File photo of State Treasurer Brad Briner speaking at Wake Tech on April 4, 2025. Proportionally cropped. Public-domain dedication: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.
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.