RALEIGH — The North Carolina Local Government Commission (LGC) approved approximately $280 million in financing requests at its Nov. 14 meeting.
The approvals were on requests made by housing authorities across various North Carolina counties, including Anson, Beaufort, Cleveland, Columbus, Cumberland, Davie, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Gaston, Iredell, Johnston, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Nash, Pitt, Polk, Robeson, Scotland, Stanly, and Wake.
The latest round of approvals is the second time in as many months that the LGC has advanced affordable housing requests following a $775 million approval in October. The recent focus on housing financing underscores a notable increase compared to the $418.5 million approved for such financing in the entire fiscal year 2022.
Numerous housing authorities were also granted permission to issue conduit revenue bonds. These bonds generate funds that are subsequently lent to third parties for the acquisition, rehabilitation, equipment, and furnishing of housing developments.
Conduit bond approvals were granted to:
- North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, $60 million
- Inlivian Housing Redefined (Mecklenburg County), $40 million
- Additional Inlivian Housing Redefined Bond, $21 million
- Wilmington Housing Authority (New Hanover County), $23.5 million (Starway Village I) and $13.6 million (Starway Village II)
- Additional Wilmington Housing Authority Bond, $20 million
- Raleigh Housing Authority (Wake County), $28 million
- Wake County Housing Authority, $25 million
- Winston-Salem Housing Authority (Forsyth County), $20 million
- Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority (Cumberland County), $15.5 million
- Gastonia Housing Authority (Gaston County), $12.075 million
The LGC also approved several financial requests such as Spring Lake’s (Cumberland County) lease agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management for three meter-reading trucks and eight police vehicles, totaling $547,500.
Stanly County gained approval for a $2 million installment purchase to replace the countywide Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management System for law enforcement and Tryon (Polk County) secured a $168,000 installment purchase approval for three police vehicles to replace older models in its motor fleet.
Treasurer Folwell and LGC members expressed concerns about delinquent financial audits, citing potential risks to fiscal discipline, misappropriations, and unreliable budget decisions.
Legislation passed this year allows the state to withhold a portion of sales tax revenue, up to 150% of the cost of the most recent audit, until the audit is completed or two years after notification of withholding.
The LGC postponed voting on a proposed appeals process related to local governments failing to submit required annual audit reports on time until December, citing the need for more review and discussion.
The LGC is chaired by State Treasurer Dale Folwell and is staffed by his department. The commission is tasked statutorily with approving most debt issued by units of local government and public authorities and monitoring the financial well-being of more than 1,100 local government units.
