North Carolina budget trims High Point Market funding

Marketing funds down 15%; transportation cut by 16%

Heath E Combs -- Furniture Today, June 17, 2011

HIGH POINT — As expected, the High Point Market Authority lost about 15% of its state appropriation for marketing funds in a state budget the North Carolina General Assembly passed this week.

Market Authority officials confirmed on Thursday that the organization received $685,507 in a recurring pass-through appropriation for each of the next two fiscal years from the N.C. Department of Commerce.

That total is about a 15% reduction from last year, when the state's appropriation totaled $806,479 for marketing funds for the Market Authority's 2010-11 fiscal year.

Officials with the Market Authority also said that the state budget also includes $1 million in transportation funds for the current year, a total cut by about 16% from last year. Those funds come from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

For the fiscal year that ended June 10, the Market Authority's total expenses were about $4.9 million.

Market Authority officials said they didn't know if a provision that would limit how much state funds can be spent on salaries, and to increase reporting requirements, was approved. Legislative officials were unavailable Thursday to comment on the provision.