Randleman sorts through finance issues

RANDLEMAN — The City of Randleman’s financial situation remains unclear as the city has been without a finance director for about three months.

The issues include a lack of a 2024 financial audit that’s about 11 months tardy.

City manager Hank Raper has been in the position since late spring. He’s formerly city manager for Siler City. Before that, Raper had a short stay in a similar position for a couple of in-state communities — at Fairmont and in Nashville.

Finance director Elizabeth Sechriest departed in early July with what was termed a “mutual separation.” She had been in that role since December 2022.

That separation came with compensation that totaled approximately $59,000 for five months of wages, insurance reimbursements and accrued vacation time.

The city has a position available for finance director and is looking to create a position for an assistant finance director.

Based on various reports, the city has acknowledged deficiencies within the 401k program related to employer contributions. The number of potentially impacted employees is unclear.

Randleman is operating on an annual budget of more than $9.7 million. That comes with a tax rate of $0.63 per $100 of property value.