The Discovery
They logged $273,714.92 in receipts under “Amazon.” That alone raises eyebrows. No details, no categories, just the word Amazon. But when I dug through more than 15,000 shadow transactions, I found the real tab: $564,889.17. That’s over half a million dollars. Either Clayton has one of the biggest online shopping addictions in North Carolina, or someone doesn’t want you to know what’s really inside those boxes.
And here’s the kicker: while Town Hall piles up mystery charges, residents are paying the second-highest water bills in North Carolina, waiting weeks for permits, and dealing with boil-water advisories and service failures. Clayton’s government spending has quadrupled since 2021, but transparency has gone the opposite direction — budget detail has been stripped away, and whole folders of public records have vanished overnight.
Why It Matters
For years, Clayton’s overhead grew more or less in step with population. From 2015 to 2021, it rose about 55% — not great, but explainable. Then came 2021, and suddenly the budget shot off the charts. By 2024, the cost of simply “running government” (not police, not fire, not parks, just overhead) had nearly quadrupled.
And instead of giving us more clarity as spending ballooned, Town Hall gave us less. Detailed line items that once showed where every dollar went were stripped from the budget books. By 2025, all we saw were big, murky categories. Even when the 2026 proposal brought back some detail, it wasn’t anything like the full picture taxpayers used to get.
Meanwhile, the gaps are plugged later with amendments, “unexpected” expenses, and ever-rising fees. And with lawsuits stacking up, Clayton families are left to wonder how much more they’ll be billed for legal fees and settlements.
When the numbers don’t add up and the receipts go missing, the story writes itself: we’re paying more and getting less.
The Pattern
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$273k on paper → really $565k.
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5,129 Amazon purchases; 2,861 disguised as “unidentified vendor.”
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Overhead nearly quadrupled since 2021.
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Budgets stripped of line-item detail.
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Midyear amendments patch holes after the fact.
It doesn’t take a detective to see the problem — but apparently it takes one to uncover the receipts.
The Vanishing Records
And when I flagged this spending in the Town’s public records folder? That folder disappeared overnight. The Town called it a “software glitch,” but every other folder stayed online. By the next morning, even agendas and minutes were briefly pulled. Now the site is back… minus the public records.
That’s not a glitch. That’s a cover-up.
The Verdict
Clayton doesn’t just have an Amazon problem. It has a transparency problem.
We deserve to know what’s in those 5,129 mystery boxes — because we’re the ones paying for them.
Case Status
$564,889.17 unaccounted for. Overhead up 300% since 2021. Transparency down. Public records gone. Citizens still footing the bill.
We deserve better. Until we get it, I’ll keep connecting the dots.