Nonprofit run by NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s wife owes the state $130,000, records show
A nonprofit run by North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill, has been ordered to pay $132,000 by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services as part of an investigation into her nonprofit, according to department documents released this week.
Hill shut down her nonprofit, Balanced Nutrition, as of April 30, amid a series of letters from DHHS lawyers about missed meetings and requests for more documents related to an annual state review. Balanced Nutrition, where Robinson worked before being lieutenant governor and other members of their family have worked, helps child care centers get food from government programs.
A letter from DHHS sent to Hill on Friday says that Balanced Nutrition owes the state $132,118.
The nonprofit plans to contest the findings in an appeal, a spokesperson for Robinson’s campaign said Monday.
Earlier this year, Hill’s attorney detailed how and why Hill thinks she is being targeted because of Robinson, who is the Republican nominee in the governor’s race, and disputed the characterization that Hill refused to participate in a previously scheduled meeting. An April letter to DHHS’ attorney from Hill’s attorney referenced another letter from February in which they raised “concerns about political bias in the treatment of Balanced Nutrition and Ms. Hill based on the fact that Ms. Hill’s husband is the Lieutenant Governor.”
The notices sent to Hill this week give her 15 days to pay the department or appeal the decision. The letter says that DHHS made multiple attempts to schedule a meeting with Hill to discuss the latest findings, but received no response.
What DHHS records show about Balanced Nutrition
Records show DHHS identified more than $24,000 in disallowed claims, or money paid out that now must be repaid, for what it describes as facility-level expenses.
Those records were released by DHHS on Thursday. On Friday, the department released records showing an additional $107,718 owed by Balanced Nutrition for disallowed claims at an administrative level.
DHHS records include a variety of reasons for facility-level funds owed by the now-shuttered nonprofit. In some cases, the records say Balanced Nutrition claimed more money than the resources actually cost or filed the same receipt twice. In other cases, the nonprofit didn’t file a receipt at all or bought food that wasn’t covered by the program.
DHHS documents from the Child and Adult Care Food Program show that Balanced Nutrition billed over $10,000 for food and related items bought for Gingerbread Learning Academy — but DHHS was unable to verify any of those claims. Laura Lott, the assistant director of the Gingerbread Learning Academy in Fuquay-Varina told The N&O on Friday that they had not received any resources from Balanced Nutrition.
At the administrative level, the state listed disallowed claims made by Balanced Nutrition for labor, supplies, rent, food and more.
DHHS told The N&O that the administrative labor costs included Hill’s salary, and were disallowed due to lack of supporting documentation.
Balanced Nutrition to appeal
On Monday, Robinson’s campaign spokesperson called the findings “politically motivated at the core.”
Mike Lonergan, Robinson’s campaign spokesperson, said that an independent auditor issued a report last year with no material findings.
“Yet as soon as Mark Robinson announced his campaign for governor in April 2023, the Democrat-run state agency started moving the goalposts. Just as they are doing against President Trump, Democrats are weaponizing the bureaucracy to grind a political ax against their opponents. Needless to say, (Balanced Nutrition) is aware of these findings, vehemently disagrees with them, and is looking forward to challenging them on appeal,” Lonergan said in a statement.
DHHS is an agency in the governor’s cabinet, with the secretary appointed by Cooper.
This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 2:58 PM.
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