The city of Rocky Mount on Monday announced they will make job cuts to the city's police and fire departments.
City leaders during Monday's city council meeting said they would cut a dozen jobs from the Rocky Mount Police Department and the Rocky Mount Fire Department in order to ease the budget crisis facing the city.
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The city expects to cut up to 15 positions with the police department and up to 10 positions with the fire department. The city said all departments will have some reductions.
A week earlier, WRAL News learned that a financial review revealed the city spent millions more than it brought in on a monthly basis for more than two years.
The review attracted the attention of the North Carolina State Auditor's Office, which sent the deputy state auditor to the city to learn how the town spent that money.
City Council said Rocky Mount's "savings fund" declined from roughly $100 million in 2023 to roughly $20 million.
The city currently has $20 million, with $8 million restricted for specific uses.
WRAL reviewed years of financial audits that Rocky Mount reported to the state. The public audits, put together by the city's finance office, show Rocky Mount's outstanding debt grew by 37% between 2021 and 2024.
During Monday's meeting, City Manager Elton Daniels said while the city was not facing a $30 million deficit, it was planning to cut that much from its budget over the next 10 months.
"It's not going to be easy. We definitely have some difficult days, months, years ahead, but all of us working together, we will definitely make this go in the right direction," Daniels said.
Shortly after the review, the city announced it would implement a $20 monthly increase for natural gas in the town and an approximate $8 monthly increase in electric bills in the town.
An accounting firm is expected to comb through records to get a more comprehensive idea of the irregularities in the budget. The city said it will share those findings at a later date.