Budget Shell Game or True Plan to Keep Parks Open?
Posted: October 1st, 2009The City Project is carefully evaluating Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s claim that the California “Departments of Finance and Parks and Recreation . . . have successfully found a way to avoid closing parks this year” through “$14.2 million in budget savings.”
We continue to analyze records from the state to determine if this will really avoid closing state parks now, or if this is just a budget shell game — and whether more reductions will result in state park closures and layoffs next year.
First, the claimed “$14.2 million in budget savings” needs to be examined. Park reductions would actually amount to $40.4 million this year and $13 million next year, according to the Department of Parks and Recreation itself. And $6.2 million of the $14.2 million figure reflects a veto by the Governor that is being challenged as illegal by state legislators.
Second, these smoke and mirror tactics emphasize the need to be careful about dedicating $400 million per year to the Department from a $15 per vehicle proposed for the November 2010 ballot. We should not trust the Department with that kind of money, unless it first has a strategic plan to improve parks and recreation for all.
“The budget process is so complicated and confusing to people to begin with, and there is so much distrust in government, that when people hear about changes in spending cuts, they are left questioning whether or not real revenues are really needed,” according to Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan research group based in San Francisco, in the New York Times.
According to Traci Verardo-Torres, Vice President for Government Affairs at the California State Parks Foundation, the “‘plan’ to avoid the full closure of state parks . . . is much more political cover than it is an actual restoration of funding for state parks – in fact, it is not at all a restoration of funding. The way [the Governor] proposes to get $14M in savings without fully closing parks is to partially or seasonally close some parks (which was already part of the plan to generate savings), eliminate major equipment purchases this year (also already on the table), reduce spending on seasonal staff (already on the table), reduce hours of operation at most state parks, and reduce ongoing maintenance. . . . While the Governor has found a clever way to get political cover on this issue, it’s not clear that this plan won’t actually leave Californians with just as limited access to their state parks as if they had been fully closed. The ‘found money’ here is from having less lifeguards on state beaches, not maintaining restrooms, not staffing parks for health and safety standards, etc. . . . [A] $22M cut in next year’s budget is still on the horizon.”
The Governor’s statement appears below.
* * *
GAAS:560:09
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Aaron McLear
Friday, September 25, 2009
Jeff Macedo
916-445-4571
Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Plan to Keep State Parks Open
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today unveiled a plan that would allow for all state parks to remain open without increasing the Department of Parks and Recreation budget appropriation. Following the passage of the budget reduction in July, the Governor tasked the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Finance to work together on a plan to achieve $14.2 million in budget savings in the current fiscal year while mitigating the number of park closures.
“Working closely with my Departments of Finance and Parks and Recreation, we have successfully found a way to avoid closing parks this year,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “This is fantastic news for all Californians.”
Below is the memo from the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Finance outlining the budget solution:
Date: September 24, 2009
To: Paul Feist, Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary
From: Ruth Coleman, Director, Department of Parks and Recreation
Ana Matosantos, Chief Deputy Director, Department of Finance
Subject: Solution to Avoid Park Closures
After several weeks of analyzing Parks’ initial proposal to achieve savings in the 2009-10 budget, an alternative solution has been developed that achieves the necessary savings and avoids full and complete park closures.
Parks’ initial proposal included a plan to fully and partially close over 100 state parks. Several of the parks identified on the initial closure list had among the highest attendance throughout the state park system. However, after further discussion and analysis, Finance was able to determine that several of these parks on the closure list were actually not being proposed to be closed, but were going to remain open with substantial service reductions. Furthermore, the parks that were identified on the closure list included closure plans that differed significantly from one park to another. In some cases, the parks were proposed to be fully, or 100 percent, closed. In other cases, the parks were proposed to be less than 1 percent closed.
To avoid full and complete park closures while achieving the budgeted savings, the Administration can take the following actions:
· In the current fiscal year, Parks can achieve one-time budget savings in the following manner:
o Maintenance and Equipment: Reduce ongoing maintenance for the remainder of 2009-10 and eliminate all major equipment purchases, such as vehicle replacements. (Savings estimated at $12.1 million)
o Service Reductions: Reducing hours and/or days of operation at most State Park units, reducing expenditures on seasonal staff, reducing staffing and operations at Headquarters (Savings estimated at $2.1 million). Examples of service reductions include; (1) some facilities will close weekdays and be open on weekends and holidays, (2) portions of a unit may be closed, such as the back loop of a campground, (3) for a park with multiple campgrounds, one whole campground or day use facility may be closed while the rest of the park remains open, and (4) parks that already close due to seasonal conditions may see a longer closure. Service reductions will be planned to minimize disruptions to visitors, achieve cost savings and maintain park fee revenues.
· To achieve the $22.2 million of ongoing future General Fund savings that was included in the 2009 Budget Act, the Administration can explore various solutions for inclusion in the January 10 budget to generate ongoing budget savings while minimizing full and complete park closures.
View the Administrative Complaint to Keep State Parks Open for All!
