ST. PAULS — Town commissioners got a glimpse at the their annual audit for fiscal year 2008-09 Thursday, although the document is still pending approval by the state Local Government Commission.

Auditor Bryon Scott, of Thompson, Price, Scott & Adams, told the board that the Local Government Commission is still reviewing the audit and that he expects approval of the financial report soon. He collected all copies of the draft document from the commissioners immediately after his brief presentation.

Scott told The Robesonian that he does not expect the state to require any “drastic changes,” although the numbers in audits are “always tweaked.”

“St. Pauls is in good sound financial condition,” Scott said. “They (local officials) are working to get better. They are striving to improve.”

Scott said that the town’s total cash balance of $1,513,000 for all funds — general, water and sewer, and special — is good for a town the size of St. Pauls. He also noted that the town’s unappropriated general fund balance of 40 percent is well above the 8 percent required by the state Local Government Commission.

Scott also noted that the town’s tax collection rate is improving, having increased during the past year by about a percent and a half. While an improvement, the auditor told the board that the town’s collection rate of 90.34 percent still lags behind the state average of 96 percent.

Town Administrator Stuart Turille said early Thursday that the town during the past year has boosted its efforts to collect property taxes and upped water rates to improve financial stability.

“If you are not collecting taxes, you can’t provide all the services,” Turille said. “Also, the increase in water rates gives us more capital reserve to maintain the water plant and overall water system.”

In other business:

— Incumbent Commissioners David Ayers, District 1, Sam McAllister, District 2, and McClure “Buck” Terry, District 4, were sworn-in for four-year board terms. Also, Jerry Weindel, the newly elected commissioner from District 3, was sworn-in for his first four-year term on the board. Weindel replaces Commissioner Doris Sutton, who did not seek re-election.

— The commissioners approved ordinances authorizing the mandatory annexation of both the East Broad and East Armfield Street areas, and the Alford Road and Gillespie Street areas. Turille said the town has now met all of the requirements for annexation. The annexation must now be approved by the U.S. Justice Department before it becomes effective in one year.

— DeWitt Rountree was reappointed to another three-year term on the ABC Board.

— Dohn Caudell, Jerry Quick and George Connors were appointed to three-year terms on the Planning Board.

— The board authorized Turille to continue looking into ways to handle the rapid growth of video sweepstakes machines throughout the town. The commissioners favor the idea of doing away with the requirement of regulating the number of machines a business can have based on square footage. They prefer that a maximum number of machines a business can have be established, and that there be a fee charged for each machine.

— The board tabled action on Turille’s suggestion that the town consider offering an annual water test, as well as perform routine well maintenance, for property owners with functioning wells who face annexation next year. To receive the service, the property owner would still have to pay the basic monthly water rate of $10.