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)