CARY, N.C. — Cary town leaders say they have already begun implementing reforms followingformer Town Manager Sean Stegall’s resignation in late 2025 and will continue reviewing the auditor’s recommendations.
Recommendations that State Auditor Dave Boliek say are imperative to fix the lack of oversight over the last few years.
“It's time for the people of Cary to understand exactly how their money is being spent,” Boliek said.
Millions of misused dollars were found in the Town of Cary, and the state auditor is bringing it all to light.
“What we found is, quite frankly, a culture of extravagant spending of tax dollars by elected officials and the staff of the Town of Cary,” Boliek said.
The state auditor’s office found the town issued company credit cards to 62% of its employees, far more than other comparable North Carolina cities. The report details thousands of dollars of questionable spending on expensive meals, travel, hotel cancellation fees, alcohol purchases and other expenses. According to the report, between January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025, the town made more than 60,000 transactions totaling $24.2 million.
“Clearly, this extravagant spending, though, was led by the former town manager, Sean Stegall. He can more directly be traced to some of the most concerning items that we found,” Boliek said.
Investigators say the town should enact several policies for employee credit cards because of how the former town manager handled them.
“Towards the end of Sean's tenure. Staff began noticing questionable decisions and behaviors from our former manager,” said Cary interim Town Manager Russ Overton.
In an emergency meeting last week, Overton said Stegall had the position for a decade, but his wrongdoings went unnoticed. Now, the town has a large financial mess to clean up.
“He eliminated most of all budget positions and departed key finance department roles such as the internal auditor position. He often encouraged staff to ignore policies and procedures and did so himself,” Overton said.
To be more transparent about the town’s finances, Cary created a website called the Moving Forward Dashboard. The dashboard shows residents exactly where their tax dollars are being spent. The auditor’s investigative report includes 12 recommendations for the town of Cary to start with, including how to handle meal expenses, reimbursements and financial reporting.
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