Unresolved Tuition Dispute Follows Former Benson Manager To Smithfield

Town of Benson paid $9,768.97 toward Kimberly Pickett’s MPA, later demanded money back; Pickett contends a subsequent town manager contract eliminated the repayment obligation

BENSON — A year after the Town of Benson demanded that former Town Manager Kimberly Pickett repay money the town spent toward her graduate degree, none of the money has been repaid.

And Pickett says she does not owe it.

Records obtained by The Johnston County Report detail a previously unresolved dispute over nearly $10,000 in taxpayer-funded tuition provided to Pickett while she worked for Benson. The town contends a five-year repayment provision was triggered when Pickett left Benson in June 2025. Pickett argues a later employment contract she signed when she became town manager made the earlier agreement null and void.

The dispute has added relevance outside Benson.

Pickett left Benson on June 30, 2025 to become assistant town manager in Smithfield. Seven months later, the Smithfield Town Council unanimously appointed her interim town manager following the retirement of longtime Manager Michael Scott. She is now among the candidates being considered for the permanent Smithfield town manager position.

The Town of Benson confirmed to The Johnston County Report that Pickett has repaid none of the tuition money.

Pickett does not dispute that she knew the original agreement contained a repayment provision. In written responses to The Johnston County Report, she acknowledged she understood the deal to require her to remain as Benson’s finance director for 60 months or pay the tuition money back.

“To work 60 months as Finance Director or pay it back – which I was committed to doing,” Pickett said.

Asked what she understood would happen if she resigned or voluntarily ceased employment as finance director before the required period expired, Pickett responded, “That I would have to pay it back to it’s entirety.”

But Pickett said that by the time she left Benson, she believed that obligation no longer existed.

At the center of the disagreement are two contracts signed years apart — a 2017 tuition reimbursement agreement and a 2022 employment contract making Pickett Benson’s town manager.

Town Agreed To Pay For College Degree

The arrangement began while Pickett was Benson’s finance director.

Minutes from an October 2017 Benson Board of Commissioners meeting show commissioners considered an educational contract for Pickett that would provide up to $10,000 over three years toward obtaining a Master of Public Administration degree (MPA).

The minutes described an employment obligation lasting five years after graduation and called for 100 percent repayment if the agreement was breached before 60 months. Commissioners unanimously approved the arrangement.

The written Tuition Reimbursement/Compensation Agreement authorized Benson to reimburse up to $10,000 for tuition, fees, books, materials and other qualifying expenses associated with Pickett’s MPA. Payments could either reimburse Pickett for expenses she had paid or be made directly to the educational institution.

The most important provision appears on the second page.

It states that if Pickett remained employed by the Town “in the role of Finance Director” for 60 full months after completing the MPA program, she would owe nothing.

If she resigned or otherwise voluntarily ceased employment as finance director before the applicable 60-month period expired, the agreement states she was required to repay 100 percent of the tuition or reimbursement payments made on her behalf.

Another provision states the agreement could not be modified or terminated except through a mutual written agreement between the parties.

Town financial records show Benson made 15 payments connected to Pickett’s UNC Pembroke education between Jan. 3, 2018 and Oct. 9, 2020.

Those payments — made through a combination of Town credit card expenditures, reimbursements and direct payments — totaled $9,768.97.

The Town spent $2,637.75 in 2018, $3,952.65 in 2019 and $3,178.57 in 2020.

Pickett told The Johnston County Report she completed her MPA in November 2020.

That date is significant. Five years from November 2020 would have carried the repayment period into approximately November 2025. Pickett left Benson on June 30, 2025.

But another question is embedded in the wording of the agreement itself.

The first part of the clawback provision says Pickett was to remain employed “in the role of Finance Director” for 60 months after finishing the MPA. A later sentence refers to voluntarily ceasing employment as finance director before the 60th month of her employment in that role.

Pickett did not remain solely in that position.

She was promoted to assistant town manager in 2018 and later became interim town manager in March 2022. In October 2022, Benson commissioners selected her as permanent town manager.

Pickett said no one discussed the effect those promotions might have on the tuition agreement.

“No, no one discussed it with me,” she said when asked whether changing positions prompted any discussion of the repayment obligation.

A New Contract

The second contract was approved in 2022.

Minutes from the Oct. 11, 2022 Benson Board of Commissioners meeting show commissioners went into closed session concerning personnel matters. After returning to open session, Town Attorney R. Isaac “Ike” Parker publicly read what the minutes described as the terms of Pickett’s town manager contract.

Those terms included a $110,000 annual salary, six months of severance, a five-year employment contract, insurance and vehicle stipends, a monthly telephone stipend and eligibility for annual pay increases.

Parker told commissioners those were the major terms and that the contract still needed to be finalized.

The board then voted 4-0 to approve the terms of Pickett’s contract as town manager.

The public minutes make no reference to her existing tuition reimbursement agreement or the five-year repayment provision.

The finalized employment agreement became effective Oct. 17, 2022.

Section 18, titled “General Provisions,” contains the language Pickett now relies upon.

Under a subsection titled “Integration,” the contract says it establishes the entire understanding between the Town and Pickett concerning her employment. It goes on to state that prior “discussions or representations” between the parties are merged into and rendered null and void by the new agreement.

Pickett contends that provision eliminated the earlier tuition agreement.

“I was aware of the provision, but at that time, I had signed another contract that made the Finance Director contract Null & Void,” Pickett told The Johnston County Report.

She said the tuition reimbursement obligation was not specifically carried forward into her town manager contract.

Pickett said she believes that was a decision for the Board of Commissioners and town attorney when they approved the new agreement.

“As you see in the minutes there was no discussion to change that or add it to the Town Manager contract to carry it forward,” she said.

The language, however, leaves room for dispute.

Section 18 does not specifically identify the 2017 tuition reimbursement agreement. Nor does it expressly state that all existing written contracts or outstanding financial obligations between Pickett and Benson were terminated.

Instead, it refers specifically to prior “discussions or representations,” while also broadly stating that the new contract establishes the parties’ entire understanding concerning Pickett’s employment.

The earlier tuition agreement, meanwhile, says it could only be modified or terminated by mutual written agreement.

Whether the 2022 contract constituted such a termination is the question dividing Pickett and her former employer.

Benson Demands Repayment

Whatever Pickett believed the 2022 contract accomplished, Benson took the opposite position after she left for Smithfield.

On Aug. 28, 2025, Parker mailed Pickett a formal demand for repayment.

Parker, the Benson town attorney, wrote that the Board of Commissioners had reviewed the 2017 tuition reimbursement agreement and that the agreement contained a clawback provision requiring full repayment if Pickett left the Town within five years after completing the MPA.

According to the demand letter, Town staff told commissioners Pickett completed the degree in December 2020 — one month later than the November 2020 date Pickett provided to The Johnston County Report.

Either date would place her June 2025 departure before the fifth anniversary of completing the degree.

Parker told Pickett the Board had “considered the matter fully” and instructed him to seek reimbursement.

The letter gave her 15 days to repay $10,000.

There is, however, a discrepancy between that amount and other Town records.

Parker’s letter says Town records showed “the full $10,000.00” had been provided toward Pickett’s education.

But a separate payment summary provided by Benson lists $9,768.97 in tuition-related expenditures — $231.03 less than the amount demanded.

Parker’s letter invited Pickett to provide records if she believed the amount paid was different.

The Johnston County Report is using $9,768.97 as the documented payment amount while noting that Benson’s formal demand sought $10,000.

Pickett Refuses Repayment Demand

Pickett did not repay the money.

She said she responded to Parker and members of the Benson Board of Commissioners in September 2025, citing Section 18 of her town manager contract.

Pickett said she included the town manager agreement and the minutes from the meeting where its terms were approved.

“I have not heard back,” she said.

A year later, she remains unequivocal about her position.

Asked whether she currently believes she owes Benson money under the tuition agreement, Pickett answered, “No.”

She said the later town manager contract is the basis for that position.

Pickett also said she had heard during meetings that Benson officials had been unable to locate her original tuition reimbursement contract.

The copy of the 2017 agreement released by Benson in response to The Johnston County Report’s latest public records request contains blank signature lines for Pickett, the mayor and town manager. The 2017 board minutes, however, document that commissioners unanimously approved an educational contract for Pickett, and Town financial records document that payments were subsequently made.

Town Declines To Explain Legal Position

The Johnston County Report sought answers from Parker concerning why the Town believed the 2017 tuition reimbursement agreement remained enforceable after the 2022 manager contract, what happened after Pickett refused to pay in 2025, and whether Benson still considered the money owed.

In an Aug. 25, 2026 response to a public records request, Parker declined to provide answers to the individual questions. The Benson town attorney said some of the requested information concerned attorney-client communications, legal advice, work product or confidential personnel information.

The Town of Benson did confirm separately that Pickett has not repaid any of the money.

Demand Came Amid Financial Crisis

The repayment dispute emerged during a turbulent financial period for Benson.

Less than a month after Pickett’s June 30, 2025 departure, commissioners were told during a special-called meeting that the Town did not have enough cash on hand to cover its current obligations.

A financial snapshot presented by former North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood showed Benson had approximately $1.46 million in cash on hand as of July 18, 2025, but outstanding and pending obligations left the Town with a calculated negative cash position of approximately $578,000. Officials also learned the utility department had no cash available.

Two months later, Benson’s fiscal year 2024 audit showed an unassigned General Fund balance approximately $846,000 in the negative.

The auditor identified two material weaknesses: over-expenditure of the budget and inadequate controls over financial reporting and the year-end closing process.

The Town’s financial problems have continued to draw scrutiny.

In June 2026, the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor confirmed it was investigating Benson’s budgeting practices and financial management. A spokesman said investigators had identified areas of concern while stressing that the investigation remained ongoing.

The state review includes multiple years of financial records and dates back at least to fiscal year 2021.

Nothing released publicly by the State Auditor’s Office links the tuition reimbursement dispute to its investigation, and the existence of the state review does not establish wrongdoing by Pickett in connection with the tuition payments.

The broader financial problems nevertheless provide context for the public interest in whether money Benson determined should be repaid has been recovered.

From Benson To Smithfield

Pickett spent approximately 11 years working for Benson.

She joined the Town in 2014 as a finance department supervisor, became finance director in 2016 and assistant town manager in 2018. She moved into the interim town manager position in March 2022 and was selected as permanent manager later that year.

When Smithfield hired her as assistant town manager in May 2025, then-Town Manager Mike Scott described Pickett as the Town’s top candidate and cited her qualifications, leadership and reputation among local government officials.

Pickett said at the time that moving to Smithfield represented a new challenge and that she hoped to spend the second half of her public service career in the community where she grew up. She began working in Smithfield July 1, 2025.

On Jan. 20, 2026, the Smithfield Town Council unanimously selected Pickett to become interim town manager effective Feb. 1 following Scott’s retirement. Council members also approved a 10 percent salary increase while she serves in the interim position.

At the time, her financial expertise and local government experience were cited among the reasons for her selection.

Pickett is now being considered as Smithfield determines who will permanently lead the Town.

Meanwhile, the disagreement with her former employer remains unresolved publicly.

Benson’s position in August 2025 was clear: its Board of Commissioners directed its attorney to recover the tuition money.

Pickett’s position is equally clear: she says the obligation disappeared when Benson entered into a new employment contract with her in 2022.

A year after Benson formally demanded repayment, taxpayers have recovered none of the money. Pickett, now serving as Smithfield’s interim town manager, has paid nothing and continues to maintain she owes Benson nothing.

As of July 1, 2026, Pickett is paid an annual salary of $164,112 by the Town of Smithfield — more than 16 times the amount Benson sought to recover.