This article was originally published by Carolina Public Press.
By Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press
Carolina Public Press is an independent, in-depth and investigative nonprofit news service for North Carolina.
With four audits still missing, the town of Littleton faces its sales tax distributions being held back after a failed appeal to the North Carolina Local Government Commission at its latest meeting on Tuesday.
The town previously told the LGC that it was aiming to finish the 2022 audit by this summer and the 2023 audit by the end of the year or early next year, Carolina Public Press reported earlier.
Beverly Stroud, an accountant assisting the town, told commissioners on Tuesday that the 2022 audit is still in progress and they don’t currently have an estimate of when it will be finished. The 2023 audit is in progress as well, with a good portion of it finished already, Stroud said.
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“We’re going to get backlogged until the first of the year with another audit because of the ‘26 audit coming up,” Stroud told commissioners.
“But hopefully, in the spring, we’ll be able to turn around a couple back to back while he’s not busy with 26’s.”
The town received a notice of noncompliance from the LGC a few months ago for failing to submit the most recent 2025 audit by April 1.
With the 2025 audit remaining incomplete, LGC staff told CPP that the town now faces having some of its sales tax distributions withheld. The town attempted to appeal the decision, citing “auditor workload” and “delays in the preparation of the financial statements by the third-party bookkeeper,” but was denied on account of the other audits still missing.
“LGC staff recommend denying appeals of units that are three or more years behind on their audits, unless the unit experienced a recent extraordinary event or circumstance that would explain the continued delay in audit submission,” the LGC resolution said.
“The Town’s appeal does not identify or describe such an event or circumstance. Accordingly, the recommendation is to deny the appeal.”
The withholding on the 2025 sales tax will be released in September 2027, while the current withholding on the town’s 2024 sales tax will be released this month.
Those in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting included Mayor Heidi Hogan and Stevelyn J. Riggan, the town’s new finance officer and town clerk.
Littleton water and sewer
Beyond the sales tax and audit issues, the town also addressed the status of its water and sewer system, which they reported to the LGC in May would potentially be merging with Halifax County’s system. Hogan told commissioners that merger with the county will be moving forward, but will likely be completed in three to five years rather than in months.
Currently, the town and the county are having monthly meetings to address logistical issues related to the merger and to come up with solutions. The issue being addressed at the next meeting will be related to meters, Hogan said.
“Then the next month we’ll take another issue with the merger,” Hogan told commissioners. “It may sound like a simplistic way to all of you, but for us it’s working.
“You can’t solve this problem till you’ve taken care of this one, and it avoids talking about everything and coming to no conclusion.”
Ophelia Gould-Faison, the commissioner who oversees the town’s water and sewer system, also praised Riggan for the work she’s done in her role as finance officer since coming on board with the town.
“She’s very meticulous on things that come across her desk and correcting us or informing us,” Gould-Faison said.
While there’s certainly more work to be done, the town has continued to make progress since May, when it narrowly avoided a financial takeover by the LGC. After submitting its overdue 2021 audit that month and showing it was close to hiring its new finance director, the LGC granted the town more time to rectify its financial situation, CPP reported.
Hogan told commission members in May that she credits more aggressive communication on the town’s part for the progress they made, as well as help from Joe Durham, a municipal operations consultant from the North Carolina League of Municipalities, in helping review their budget.
Moving forward, the LGC told Littleton officials that they’d like to see an interlocal agreement between the town and Halifax County, another audit finished and a clearer understanding of the town’s leadership. They’d like to see these items completed by December, which is also when they’d like to see the town return to give another update.
