Overview
- The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor released an information systems audit on Wednesday that found customers were not double-billed but that unauthorized changes to meter‑reading and billing schedules caused the late and duplicate notices.
- Auditors said the problems stemmed from weak management, monitoring, and process controls and recommended combining meter‑reading and billing schedules, protecting schedule files from unauthorized edits, adding user access controls, and working with the CIS Infinity vendor to automate scheduling.
- The audit found City Council members Charles Roberson and T. J. Walker had more than $30,000 in unpaid utility balances that were paid after the city received a draft report; no late fees were charged because the city had paused penalties during the billing disruption.
- Rocky Mount City Manager Elton Daniels agreed with the report’s findings and recommendations, and the Local Government Commission noted some cash improvement as it continues oversight.
- Broader fiscal reviews this year found deeper problems: a March performance audit documented about an $80 million drop in the city’s cash and investments from 2023 to 2025, and on July 2 the legislature passed a law that limits Rocky Mount’s ability to use electric utility revenue for non‑utility purposes.