FIRST ON 3: Commissioners cover half of $665K debt for Pender Fire and EMS

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Pender County commissioners are going to help replenish more than half a million dollars for Pender EMS and Fire.

County manager Randell Woodruff said it is a mess the county has been dealing with from past administration.

“We knew the problem existed,” Woodruff said.

Woodruff and Finance Director Kathy Brafford took on that problem last year.

“The county has been cited the past three years of audit reports for having a deficit balance,” Brafford said.

The county has received letter after letter from the local government commission each year saying records and fund transfers were never recorded for Pender EMS and Fire.

“There was just so much cleaning up of record keeping that had to be done,” Woodruff said.

Brafford said there were two issues.

“Taxes were being overstated,” Brafford said. “Fund balance was appropriated that did not exist, because it was in a fund deficit.”

Woodruff said it is not their fault or EMS and Fire’s fault. He said it is previous administration.

“We just know some problems existed before we got here and we just need to get it corrected, so we can operate professionally,” Woodruff said.

Brafford is asking commissioners to use the general fund to replenish half of the debt and Fire and EMS to cover the other half. There would be no extra burden on the taxpayer.

“This we believe is the last thing of this nature I am almost positive that we will have to deal with,” Woodruff said. “So we would start out July 1 with a clean slate.”

Commissioners voted whether to approve that fund appropriation at their regular meeting today at 4:00 p.m.