Cary town leaders received a lesson in public accounting at its work session meeting on Thursday as part of a 39-part plan to correct its spending and improve its savings balances. 

The Office of the State Auditor recommended the training after its July report uncovered an "extravagant spending culture" within Cary's government. 

Other WRAL Top Stories

That state audit report revealed Cary’s savings dipped below a required minimum threshold, which was information that a sitting council member said former Town Manager Sean Stegall did not disclose.  

Stegall's temporary replacement, Interim Town Manager Russ Overton, said Thursday that the town is making progress on the 39 recommendations. As of this morning, the town's online 'Moving Forward' dashboard showed that just 5% of the action items were complete.

Overton said Thursday evening that the town plans to update the dashboard to reflect progress on six additional recommendations. Thursday's training fulfilled one of them.

 "We feel a sense of urgency," Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said. "We spent the meeting brainstorming and gave ourselves homework."

Some council members disagreed on how much the town should be setting aside for savings, saying that too much is also not financially responsible.

The town council said it will work on updating its savings policy in its next work session. 

"There's a lot of moving parts," Overton said.  "So by the end of the week, most of the 39 recommendations will be in research, followed by development. And I'll just say it again: 39 recommendations is a lot of work."

Pressing for answers

The 2,600-page audit report revealed Cary’s fund balance dipped below required minimum levels in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. The report said Stegall told the council that Cary’s savings never dropped below minimums just weeks before resigning in late 2025.

Several council members have said Stegall is to blame for spending problems alleged by the state auditor, but WRAL is still asking for answers on the following questions: 

  • Do you take responsibility for the issues presented in the spending reports? 
    • Why did the spending go unquestioned by elected officials? 
      • Would you consider stepping down?

        Committee recommends more eyes

        Earlier this week, a town council committee recommended adding more eyes on official travel expenses. 

        In response to the audit, Cary officials have said concerns about gaps in oversight, processes and culture stem from the actions of former town manager.

        The committee recommended the council create a review process for any council travel expenses. It also recommended councilmembers to affirm their code of ethics annually in some form, such as signing a written pledge. No date was set for when the council should take up these measures.

        The committee also went over broader financial accountability measures on compensation, travel and meal reimbursement, and council benefits that it said will need more research before finalizing. Each of the members was given one area to research before the next committee meeting on Monday, Sept. 14 at 5:15 p.m.

        The town of Cary has launched an online dashboard where the public can track its progress in implementing nearly 40 recommendations that town officials say will improve oversight.

        As of Thursday morning, the dashboard showed just over 5% completion in implementing the 39 changes recommended by the state auditor, which involved addressing two recommendations. The remaining 37 recommendations are still in development, under research, or not started.

        The two recommendations that were completed involve adding more oversight for when the town manager makes amendments to the town budget.

        The first amended the rules for the budget ordinance to require the town manager to submit a written notice to the council before any budget amendment is initiated by the budget office that appropriates fund balance. The second requires the town manager or their designee to report in writing any appropriation or interdepartmental transfer changes in the budget to the town council ahead of its next regular meeting.

        Questions about recommendations timeline

        The Town of Cary says many of the recommendations suggested by the state auditor will be implemented by February of 2027, more than six months after the report's release. Some are not projected to be implemented until May next year. 

        "I think that's entirely too long," a commenter said during the "Public Speaks Out" portion of the August 27 Cary council meeting. 

        WRAL asked Interim Town Manager how the timeline to implement those recommendations was established and why it would take until then. 

        In an email responding to WRAL, Overton wrote the following statement via a town spokesperson:

        "OSA required us to establish implementation dates as part of our response. We did what they asked and developed those dates to set realistic expectations and give our teams the time needed to fully research each recommendation, understand the impacts, bring those items to Council to review/discuss, and develop thoughtful policies and procedures. February 2027 should not be viewed as the date when work begins. As you know, we are tracking each recommendation through the four stages of development, and the teams are making progress every week, and all of this can be tracked through our online dashboard. Some recommendations can be done quickly, and others will progress more incrementally, but it is progress nonetheless. Our goal is to do this work thoroughly and get it right while continuing to deliver the high-quality service our community depends on every day."