Random things in the House budget nobody is talking about
Published May 29, 2015
by Sarah Curry, The Locker Room, May 27, 2015.
Every year when the budget comes out people focus on the big items such as education and Medicaid, but what about those small things that no one really talks about? I want to highlight some of those today. All of these spending items came from the House Budget’s final edition.
- Exempt Sales Tax for Non-profit Agricultural Fairs ($330k each year)
- Science Olympiad – A non-profit organization to attract and retain a pool of k-12 students entering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics ($1.2 million each year)
- Fayetteville Botanical Lab – doubles funding for the lab ($200k each year)
- Research Campus at Kannapolis – increases funding to the campus ($24.1 million total funding)
- Eastern 4H Center – provides an additional $367k for operating expenses
- Expands foster care to age 19 – This along with the Foster Care Caseload spending item increases the total spending by 12.8% to $203.2million.
- Dairy Inspection Fee – Increases the annual inspection fees for dairy retailers from $10 to $50and wholesalers from $40 to $100.
- Oysters:
- Shellfish Rehabilitation – additional funds for cultch planting ($300k first year and $600k the second year)
- Oyster Research and Development – funds contract with UNC-W to develop oyster brood stock to provide seed for aquaculture ($250k first year and $500k second year)
- Oyster Sanctuaries – funding to support a network of sanctuaries ($200k in second year)
- Aquatic weed control – spending additional money for state lakes and rivers ($900k in first year and $300k in second year)
- Beaver management program – provides additional funds ($635k total state funding)
- American Legion World Series Baseball – gives the non-profit hosting the event $200k for one year.
- Jurislink – provides funds to establish a system of automated kiosks in local confinement facilities to allow attorneys to represent indigent defendants to consult with their clients remotely ($1.6 million each year)
- Samarcand Firing Range – funds the construction of a state-of-the-art firing range at the Samarcand Training Academy ($2.9 million first year only)
- Pirate Ship – provides funding to continue the excavation of the Queen Anne’s Revenge ($1.5 million first year only)
- Tryon Palace – gives Tryon Palace additional funds (total funding is $2.9 million per year)
- NC Symphony – Provides funding to the NC Symphony in the form of a challenge grant. The NC Symphony must raise $9 million each year to receive the grant ($ 2million each year)
- Ferry Equipment Replacement and Water Tower Repair – replaces deteriorating hydro-blasting equipment, repairs the water tower at the shipyard, ad upgrades underground water lines ($3 million each year)
- Temporary plate fee – $5 increase to the fee for a 10-day temporary tag and the elimination of the 10-day trip permit.
- Challenge Grants for Cultural Arts Venues – provides funds for new arts venues ($10 million first year)
- Battleship – Provides additional funds to repair the USS North Carolina Hull and build a cofferdam ($3 million first year only)
