Photo courtesy of NC Treasury Department
ROWLAND — The North Carolina Local Government Commission (LGC) voted Tuesday to take over financial control of the town of Rowland.
The move will ensure that bills get paid and citizens continue to get services they need, an LGC press release said.
“Our priority is making sure every citizen in our state is getting the services they need. If local governments don’t fulfill their duty to their constituents, we will not hesitate to act,” said N.C. Treasurer Brad Briner, who chairs the LGC. “We know that it is not easy to conclude that your local government is no longer viable, but it would be even more difficult to tell taxpayers that you are bankrupt. This needs to be fixed before that happens.”
The LGC told the town on Sept. 1 that it had 30 days to develop a long-term financial plan, and that if it did not do so it would be at risk of a takeover by the state.
Rowland officials told the LGC in Tuesday’s meeting that the town remains in fiscal trouble but believe it is moving in the right direction, a press release said. The LGC staff, however, recommended the members vote to assume financial control of the town since it did not outline a clear financial path forward. The LGC members voted to assume control of the town’s finances.’
Rowland has been on the LGC’s watch list since 2020 and has missed the state’s deadline to file financial audits for the last four years, the LGC says.
This comes after the Rowland Board of Commissioners held an emergency meeting Monday night and declared its intent to adopt a voluntary dissolution agreement, which would give the town the chance to regroup and develop a long-term plan to fix its finances. A voluntary dissolution agreement could be withdrawn by the town in the future.
Mayor Robert McDougald apologized to the public in Monday’s meeting, saying the town’s current financial state resulted from poor management and a lack of proper oversight. He said town officials, including himself, need to look more closely and manage better going forward.
The LGC says that the town spent more money than it budgeted in several areas in 2025. The most notable of these was exceeding the budgeted amount for transportation costs by $519,000.
As of June 30, 2025, Rowland’s general fund had a deficit of more than $167,000, and in August, it had unpaid bills totaling nearly $153,000, the LGC said.
The LGC says it previously met with town officials, in Oct. 2024, twice in 2025 and in Feb. 2026, to discuss how the town could improve its financial situation.
The LGC also voted to take over financial control of Ronda, a town in Wilkes County.