FCA-2013-7901
The results of our audit disclosed deficiencies in internal control and/or instances of noncompliance or other matters that are considered reportable under Government Auditing Standards. Specifically, the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center (Rural Center) retained about $20 million in interest earnings from undisbursed state funds, did not verify job creation or other performance measures for at least five grants, failed to diligently enforce grantee reporting requirements, and paid its executive unreasonable salaries. Details about each item are provided in the Audit Findings, Recommendations and Recommendations section of the report. The Rural Center agreed with the first finding but disagreed with some aspects of the second and third findings. Readers should consider the auditor's response (see appendix) when evaluating the Rural Center's response to findings two and three.