South Charlotte Today

The North Carolina State Treasurer said he has concerns about some cities' and counties' financial health as COVID-19 shows no signs of reducing its impact on local budgets. 

Treasurer Dale Folwell made his comments in an interview with WFMY 2 News in June, but he also said there are jurisdictions on solid ground because of cash reserves that were bolstered by federal relief funding and property taxes. 

“Even though we’ve seen hard times, we’ve never seen anything like this, which has everyone locked down and not moving around and not generating taxes like fuel tax, occupancy tax," Folwell told WFMY 2 News for its June 12 report. "And the reason it matters is it funds public safety, schools and public roads.”

To help determine financial health, Folwell factors in monetary reserves, with anything north of 8% of general revenue being safe. 

Greensboro is one of the towns that have the reserves Folwell prefers. WFMY 2 News reported Greensboro has $32.7 million in its reserves, which accounts for 20% of its general revenue. Guilford County is also above the 8% threshold. The news station reported the county has banked $12.7 million, or approximately 20% of its budget's revenue. 

For some 200 counties and cities, however, they are not as fortunate, Folwell said because the virus has hit those jurisdictions much harder. Part of the problem, he said, was that not all local governments received federal COVID-19 relief funds. 

“We have 100 counties in NC but only three received COVID money because when Congress wrote the law, they did so for populations above 500,000," Folwell told WFMY 2 News. "So only three counties and one city out of 540 cities, and that was Charlotte.”