A Cary elected official says former Town Manager Sean Stegall removed information related to the town’s rainy-day cash cushion from a quarterly update for town council members.
It comes as a recent report from the North Carolina State Auditor's Office revealed Cary’s fund balance, or savings, dipped below a required minimum threshold in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
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"I learned recently that the fund balance dip information was included by staff on a slide for one of the corresponding quarterly updates, and the former town manager moved it out of the deck during the pre-meeting review, " Cary Council Member Carissa Kohn-Johnson wrote in an email to WRAL on Friday.
Towns typically reserve a savings cushion to help with unexpected events like natural disasters or economic downturns.
“Local governments are expected to have a fund balance, which is basically a savings account, the same way that you and I have a savings account in our personal finances,” North Carolina’s Local Government Finance Director Denise Canada said.
The town disputes the audit’s findings about the fund balance dip, citing different calculations that officials say shows Cary’s financial buffer only fell below minimums in FY 2023.
Part of the 2,600-page audit that uncovered questionable tax dollar spending and lax financial oversight in the town’s government details a 2025 town meeting, during which auditors said Stegall told council members multiple times that Cary’s savings had never dropped below minimums.
“…He basically gave [the council] information that was not true,” Former council member Jennifer Robinson told state auditors.
In an email to WRAL, Johnson said Stegall intervened when town staff attempted to give council members the full financial picture.
“What I don’t understand is why he did so. We were back up within policy fairly quickly, so I don’t understand what the motivation was for the manager to obscure it instead of explaining it,” Johnson wrote.
Stegall has not responded to WRAL’s multiple requests for comment.
Several town council members blame Stegall for spending problems alleged by the state auditor.
However, Canada said elected leaders are ultimately responsible for their town’s financial health.
“That is something that elected boards sometimes struggle with,” Canada said. “Sometimes they don't necessarily take the level of responsibility that they need to or don't understand the level of responsibility that they have, but the buck stops with the board.”
The state audit said the town’s finances have since rebounded.
The town says it plans to change policy to require that the town manager notify council members in writing before any budget changes that use fund balance money.