Gated community gets $300,000 in NC budget 

A private neighborhood is getting $300,000 in public funding. 

The Carolina Lakes Property Owners’ Association received two special appropriations in the 2026 North Carolina state budget: $160,000 for “emergency services needs” and $140,000 for “various needs, including shelter replacement, repair, and maintenance.” 

Special appropriations, commonly called earmarks, are grants directed to specific recipients. 

Carolina Lakes is a gated community of 1,700 homes and seven lakes in Harnett County. It has 24 boat slips, a marina, a clubhouse, a beach, a 9-hole disc golf course, a 1-mile fitness trail, three playgrounds, a large swimming pool, a large athletic field, a basketball court, a tennis court, two pickleball courts, and secure boat and RV storage for residents. 

The association’s two shelters can each be rented for $60, plus a $100 deposit. 

The budget does not define the community’s “emergency services needs” or “various needs,” nor explain why the shelters need to be repaired or replaced, how much the projects are expected to cost, or what public benefit the spending is intended to provide. 

The association’s website does not disclose how much property owners pay in annual dues. That information is available only through a password-protected member portal. 

Carolina Journal asked the association manager why the association requested the funding, how it plans to spend the money, and which lawmakers helped secure it.  

The manager forwarded the request to the board, which declined to comment. 

Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst at the John Locke Foundation, said the lack of detail in the budget raises questions about whether the earmarks are an appropriate use of state funds. 

“Perhaps there is some compelling reason why taxpayers across the state should be forced to bear some responsibility for what appears to be highly localized spending on a gated community of lakeside homes,” Kokai said. “But that reason isn’t obvious.” 

“Lawmakers didn’t help their cause by omitting any justification for the expenditure,” he added. “As it is, this looks to be one of hundreds of local earmarks that allow favored legislators to bring home the bacon. That’s not sound budgeting.” 

Carolina Lakes is not the first gated community to receive state funding. 

The Seven Lakes Landowners’ Association received a $250,000 special appropriation in the 2023 state budget for “capital costs and equipment associated with dam safety improvements.” 

Money routed through a state reserve 

The Carolina Lakes and Seven Lakes appropriations came from the Regional Economic Development Reserve. Created in 2023, it is one of 20 new reserves lawmakers have established since 2020, bringing the total number of active state reserves to 33. 

Money directed through reserves is not included in the state budget’s total spending figure.  

Brian Balfour, senior vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, has called the approach a “shell game” that obscures how much lawmakers are spending. 

Balfour calculated the 2026 budget includes $3 billion of “hidden” spending from reserves, including 664 special appropriations totaling more than $200 million from the Regional Economic Development Reserve. 

Who requested the funding? 

The budget does not identify which lawmaker requested each special appropriation, including the two for the Carolina Lakes Property Owners’ Association. 

In 2017, then-Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange, introduced House Bill 83, the Ensure Budget Transparency Act, to require every special appropriation in the budget to “indicate the name of the member or members who requested the provision.”  

The bill did not receive a hearing or a vote. 

Insko later proposed the language as an amendment to the 2017 House rules, but it failed 48-68. 

House leaders have said they are concerned that multiple members might try to claim credit for the same provision, while Senate leaders have said they are concerned that attributing every appropriation could be logistically complicated. 

Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Raleigh on July 27 for the first time since they passed the $34.4 billion spending plan. They could revise or rescind budget provisions, including special appropriations, through a budget technical corrections bill. 

“Gated community gets $300,000 in NC budget ” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.