Statement from State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, Regarding Pilot Mountain’s Fiscal Health and Irregularities and the Staff of the Local Government Commission

In recent media interviews, Pilot Mountain Mayor Evan Cockerham has asserted that the Local Government Commission (LGC) “failed to alert us to financial discrepancies and, thus far, have offered only limited guidance.” This statement is factually inaccurate. In fact, LGC staff have been meeting with the town representatives for the last eight years, expressing concerns about Pilot Mountain’s financial health and fiscal management. Staff visited the town and met with local officials in October of 2016, February of 2019 and again in 2020 in a meeting attended by Mayor Cockerham. Since 2018, three separate letters were sent to the town manager expressing concerns regarding the town’s financial position and internal controls. Those alerts included the specific issue that the “[G]eneral Fund Balance available for appropriation relative to expenditures is inadequate to support operations,” an indicator that the potential for mishandling money might exist. In each case, Mayor Cockerham responded to LGC staff defending the town’s actions. The town entered into a Fiscal Accountability Agreement with the LGC in both 2021 and 2023. Those included requirements for fiscal management training by the town manager and newly elected or appointed board members to help them meet statutory budget and fiscal control obligations and duties. It is not the function of the LGC to investigate and solve the problems of governmental units, but to identify issues from their audited financial statements and make them aware so that they may take appropriate action to solve or mitigate the negative findings. To act as if the commissioners and mayor were unaware that there were fiscal problems is disingenuous at best. LGC staff identified multiple “red flags” that should have initiated further inquiries by elected officials into the town manager’s fiscal management practices. The failure of Mayor Cockerham, the Board of Commissioners and town staff to properly heed the LGC warnings is not the fault of LGC staff or other government agencies, but rests solely with the government officials in Pilot Mountain.