A few years and some honest people can make a tremendous difference in local government.

Such looks to be the case in Landis, where a new group of staff members and an interim manager who’s giving the interim title a run for relevance have lifted the town’s fund balance, which is partially a savings account, from about 0.8% of expenditures to 27.85%. The net effect for taxpayers is that the town of Landis now has significantly more money saved in case of an emergency or for when an expensive piece of equipment is in need of replacing.

The Local Government Commission prefers a fund balance amount of 40% for towns the size of Landis, but the progress so far is worth celebrating. As one reader emailed this week, “Having lived in Landis since 1949, this is the best I have felt about how things are going in many years.”

A little more than two years ago, the remaining town staff, reporters and the public were still sorting through initial details of what the State Bureau of Investigation deemed to be an embezzlement scheme. For taxpayers who endured fee and tax increases, it was maddening to think about the possibility money had been used for some other purpose than providing services. Documents released by the town showed the town manager and finance officer at the time earned salaries that were much higher than the amount approved.

Disgraced manager Reed Linn, finance officer Ginger Gibson and recreation director Andrew Morgan were charged July 2, 2020, in connection with the SBI’s probe.

A Raleigh-based audit firm this week confirmed things are now heading in the right direction when presenting an audit to the Landis town board. The auditor said Finance Director Diane Seaford is a big reason why “things are getting better.”

There’s also credit to go around for interim town manager Leonard Barefoot, who retired after 14 years as Sanford’s town manager, but has made somewhat of a second career out of being an interim manager for municipalities.

Worth noting: Barefoot is doing a good job of filling a promise he made on Jan. 7, 2020, when he was appointed interim manager.

“My goal will be to make the town of Landis as smooth and operational as it can be when you get a permanent manager,” he said during the meeting.

The Landis board has narrowed its list of permanent town manager candidates to just a few and expects to finish the selection process within a month.