{"id":4822,"date":"2026-07-17T12:31:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4822"},"modified":"2026-07-17T12:31:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:31:40","slug":"nc-state-auditor-says-cary-report-shows-a-culture-of-extravagant-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4822","title":{"rendered":"NC State Auditor says Cary report shows a culture of \u2018extravagant spending\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n The town of Cary has been in the spotlight since late November, when Town Manager Sean Stegall was put on administrative leave without any explanation from the town. Stegall resigned Dec. 13, 2025, amid reports of questionable spending. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer.\n <\/p>\n

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At first, the investigation into Cary\u2019s spending focused only on what happened under former Town Manager Sean Stegall, North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek said Thursday.<\/p>\n

As Boliek\u2019s office kept digging, though, it took a wider view of the town\u2019s spending, he said. Stegall can be tied to \u201csome of the most concerning\u201d spending. But the report, which the office released Thursday, revealed a deeper issue within the town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat our team has concluded is \u2014 and there\u2019s no better way to say it \u2014 that there\u2019s a cultural problem in terms of extravagant spending of taxpayer dollars in the town of Cary,\u201d Boliek said.<\/p>\n

Seven months after Cary town manager Sean Stegall resigned<\/a> amid allegations of questionable spending, the N.C. State Auditor\u2019s office released its 2,595-page report on the town\u2019s spending.<\/p>\n

Boliek presented the findings at a press conference at the state auditor\u2019s office alongside his staff. He listed examples from the report that he felt illustrated the extravagance of the town\u2019s spending, including:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll let you draw your own conclusions about whether that\u2019s a return on investment of taxpayer dollars,\u201d Boliek said of the Wilmington retreat costs.<\/p>\n

Stegall has not responded to a phone call from The News & Observer following the release of the report, The N&O reported.<\/p>\n

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Beyond Stegall, Boliek criticized the town for an issue he said he brought up at previous Council of State meetings \u2014 the amount of employees who have procurement cards, or, as Boliek called them, town Visa cards. Of the town\u2019s total workforce, 62% of staff, or 828 employees, had a town visa card.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Charlotte gives only 800 of its employees town visa cards, Boliek said \u2014 10% of their workforce. Much of the $24.2 million spent with Cary\u2019s Visa cards did not have invoices or receipts attached, either, creating an \u201caccountability problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stegall declined to interview with the state auditor\u2019s office, Deputy State Auditor Beth Ray said. But Boliek said he spoke with Cary town council members, staff, Mayor Harold Weinbrecht and acting town manager Russ Overton. All were cooperative, and no one refused an interview.<\/p>\n

From those conservations, Boliek said Cary has a \u201cfresh attitude\u201d on accountability for where its money is going. He encouraged all elected municipal officials to \u201cerr on the side of micromanagement\u201d and be fearless in asking tough questions of their professional staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaxpayers don\u2019t mind if money\u2019s being spent,\u201d Boliek said. \u201cThey want to know how it\u2019s being spent, and they want to believe and know that the intent is to get a return on investment of the expense of those dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town is holding a news conference at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at town hall to outline the town\u2019s response and will release findings from the law firm the town hired to review its concerns.<\/p>\n

Read more Five new things state auditors found in their Town of Cary investigation<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 3:07 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NC State Auditor says a 2,600-page report exposes Cary\u2019s \u2018extravagant\u2019 spending, citing pricey meals, Ray-Bans, and widespread use of town visa cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNC State Auditor says Cary report shows a culture of \u2018extravagant spending\u2019 - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4822\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NC State Auditor says Cary report shows a culture of \u2018extravagant spending\u2019 - 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