By Elizabeth Pittman for WNCT Channel 9

On Friday, April 4, 2025, the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor (OSA) released its 2024 Statewide Single Audit report that examined $25.65 billion in federal grants spent. 

In total, the audit resulted 11 findings and $8.5 million in questioned costs.

“These results have been delivered to the governor, agency managers, and the North Carolina General Assembly,” State Auditor Dave Boliek said. “Moving forward, our office will be following up on these findings to make sure tax dollars are being managed responsibly with an eye on returning a positive investment to all North Carolinians.”

Majority of the questioned costs were attributed to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, which used $8.5 million of Unemployment Insurance administration funds incorrectly by charging expenditures to the wrong timeframe allowed by each award.

There were two instances of poor monitoring of federal funds:

• The Department of Commerce did not adequately monitor $55 million in federal funds that were designated for employment and training programs.
• The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) did not adequately monitor $106.5 million in federal funds for providing substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services and addressing the opioid abuse crisis. Specifically, OSA found the DHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services did not complete monitoring activities, including required on-site visits, for six LME/MCOs that received $40.4 million in substance abuse funds and $37.5 million in opioid abuse funds.

For this report, OSA audited 22 programs managed by 21 state entities. The full, 229-page report can be read here. In total, for the year ended June 30, 2024, North Carolina spent $36.58 billion in federal awards from 618 programs, managed by 103 different state entities.

The preceding article originally appeared on April 4, 2025 at WNCT’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Carolina Leadership Coalition.