Dana Layne discusses the fiscal audit with Salemburg’s town commissioners during Thursday’s board meeting.
SALEMBURG — Things look good for the town of Salemburg, according to reports from the town’s fiscal end-of-year audit.
During Salemburg’s monthly Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday night, CPA Dana Layne, CPA, CFE, from Goldsboro, reported the findings of the town’s audit which, she said, concluded June 30, 2024.
Layne told board members after reviewing Salemburg’s general funds and assets, she found the town in good financial standing, having a little over a $1 million in assets and a small amount of town liabilities.
“I find this very good for a small town to have such good financial standing and adequate amounts of operating funds.”
Turning to another point of her audit, Layne spoke about town revenue. She asked if there were plans to raise the town’s rates and fees, such as water, sewer and garbage
“We have no plans as there are many people here who are on a fixed income, and we don’t want to raise prices on anything unless we absolutely have to,” responded Salemburg Mayor Joe Warren.
Layne said there was no immediate need to do so since the account balances were in good standing and growing steadily and had been for the last two years. She gave credit to Teresa Smith, town clerk/finance officer, and Annette Ricketson, deputy clerk.“The town should really thank these two ladies for running a tight ship and being so well organized,” the CPA stressed.
Concluding her audit report, Layne added, “If I have to find something to complain about, it would be that there was no external hard drive to back up data in the case of a crash.”
Mayor Pro Tem Dickie Walters explained that the town did have the information backed up, stating, “We actually back up to the cloud in two different places.” Layne recommend that there still be a hard drive that would be easier to access for future audits.
Attention was then turned to an update from Warren who told the town there were plans for a mural to be painted next year in honor of Salemburg native and bass guitarist Willie Weeks. Warren said it was his hope to make an event out of the unveiling, something, he said, he hoped would shine a positive light on the town.
The board meeting then shifted to new business, starting with an update on the town’s IT service, with board members voting unanimously to stay with the town’s current provider, Virtual Geek.
Smith then brought up a topic, continued from last month’s meeting, on painting the clerk’s office.
“I have done as the board requested, and have reached out and got a second quote which was for $1,300, which the first quote was for $800 so that is quite a bit of a difference and (I) would just like the board to let me know what my next steps are? ” said Smith. Board members said they would prefer to go with the cheaper option with Warren calling for a vote, which passed unanimously.
Smith then shifted to a separate topic, asking for permission to attend the Clerk’s Certification Institute, part of the UNC School of Government, for training. The training is for a total of four weeks over the next year. She told board members she had been awarded a $3,500 tuition scholarship so the town only needed to cover the cost of the hotel stay.
“I feel that this is in the town’s best interest and that she has done the hard part and found the funding for the classes; we should do this as it would only help us, and we have had two clerks go before,” Warren told the board.
Walters noted that a food voucher should also be included in order to help Smith cover some of the cost while in training. The board passed this unanimously.
At the meeting’s conclusion, Warren announced that the town offices will be closed Dec 24-25 for Christmas and Jan 1, in observance of New Year’s.
The town’s annual Heart Drop will also be held from 4-7 p.m., Dec 31, at the town hall.