JustMVG
12-30-2003, 11:38 PM
Park fees set to reach new heights
BECAUSE OF BUDGET WOES, STATE SAYS, CLOSING SITES WAS ONLY OTHER OPTION
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News
California's parks department, staggered by the state's budget problems and trying to avoid closing dozens of parks, announced Tuesday it will raise entrance and camping fees to their highest levels in history.
Some fees will more than double at California's 277 state parks, which range from redwood forests to ``Baywatch'' beaches, desert ghost towns to mountain ranges, and battlefields to Lake Tahoe shoreline sites.
Getting into Hearst Castle, for example, will jump from $12 to $25.
Entrance fees at many Bay Area parks -- including Big Basin Redwoods, Half Moon Bay State Beach, Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais -- will increase 50 percent, to about $6 per car, and possibly by a few dollars more on holiday weekends.
The biggest shocks to some outdoor lovers will come along the sunny Southern California beaches that receive millions of visitors each year. Visiting Huntington State Beach in Orange County, for example, will increase from $5 to $12 per car, and up to $14 on busy weekends.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger described himself as an environmentalist and lover of the outdoors during the recall election. On Tuesday, his top lieutenants described the fee increases, which take effect July 1, as unavoidable and said they should negate the need to close any parks as the state struggles to eliminate its $14 billion budget deficit.
``After repeated budget reductions, we have reached the point where there is no other choice,'' Parks Director Ruth Coleman said. ``This is a reasonable solution to help get the state through hard budget times. The plan keeps the system open and operating while also keeping it as affordable as possible for all Californians.''
Several environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers contacted Tuesday said that while they worry the cuts will lead to a drop-off in attendance, particularly among low-income residents, all choices are bleak.
``We think this is a reasonable response to the budget crisis, and much preferable to closing parks,'' said Sara Feldman, a spokeswoman for the California State Parks Foundation, an advocacy group in Marin County.
``Parks will still be available at reasonable rates to people. And even if they can't go to their No. 1 choice, they still will have other choices available to them,'' she said.
The chairman of the Assembly's Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee agreed.
``People have to face the reality that if they don't want tax increases and they want the budget balanced, they are going to face difficult choices,'' said Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, D-Martinez. ``This is one of the easiest decisions that will be made this year.''
Replacing funding
Other options, including commercial sponsorship of some parks -- an idea floated by then-Gov. Pete Wilson and rejected amid public opposition a decade ago -- also should be considered, Canciamilla said.
The raises, which do not require legislative approval, will raise $18 million next year, assuming a 15 percent drop from the current 85 million visitors a year, said John Shelton, chief of state parks concessions and reservations in Sacramento.
That money will offset a proposed $15 million cut in Schwarzenegger's 2004-05 budget to the state parks' $272 million annual operating budget, and leave a little left over for back-logged maintenance projects.
Ron Brean, deputy state parks director, said the fee increases have been in the works for at least four months -- before Schwarzenegger took office. If they are not imposed, the state will have to close up to 100 parks, he said.
The increases highlight a stunning downturn in state parks' fortunes over the past three years. On Jan. 1, 2001 then-Gov. Gray Davis cut fees in half, from $6 to $3 at many parks -- the lowest entrance fees since 1986. He also eliminated boat launch fees and slashed entrance fees at state museums.
But only months later, as the dot-com economy soured, tax revenues fell and state lawmakers continued to spend at record levels, the state opened a massive deficit.
Last December, Davis quietly undid much of his earlier fee cut, raising entrance fees from a maximum of $3 to a maximum of $5.
Under Schwarzenegger's plan, the maximum entrance fee will be $14. Most Northern California parks will cost $6 to $8 to enter. Overnight camping fees will jump statewide from as much as $13 to a high of $25 for basic sites, and as much as $39 for recreational-vehicle sites with hookups. Annual passes, at $67, will increase to as much as $125.
State parks superintendents also will be given new discretion to lower entrance fees in slower weekday or off-season times and raise them during weekends and summer.
Spending constraints
In a wider sense, the parks' basic problem is that there is a fortune to buy new land, after voters passed more than $9 billion in parks and water bonds over the past three years, but there is no money for rangers because of the state's deficit. Bond money can pay for maintenance, repairs and land purchases -- but not salaries, which make up more than two-thirds of the parks budget.
``I don't like the idea of raising fees,'' said Fred Keeley, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League, an environmental group in Sacramento.
``But I applaud the department for being honest about what their choices are. The real solution is to increase the size of the general fund,'' either through higher income taxes on the wealthy or sales tax on services, he said.
Endowment proposal
Two years ago, Keeley, then a state assemblyman from Santa Cruz, proposed that Davis create a $2 billion state parks endowment from the budget surplus to pay for park operations with the interest. Davis declined.
``These parks are treasures,'' Keeley said. ``All Californians inherit them. We have an obligation to pass them on intact and enhanced to the next generation. It costs money to do that. We should be willing to pay it. It is an important legacy.''
BECAUSE OF BUDGET WOES, STATE SAYS, CLOSING SITES WAS ONLY OTHER OPTION
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News
California's parks department, staggered by the state's budget problems and trying to avoid closing dozens of parks, announced Tuesday it will raise entrance and camping fees to their highest levels in history.
Some fees will more than double at California's 277 state parks, which range from redwood forests to ``Baywatch'' beaches, desert ghost towns to mountain ranges, and battlefields to Lake Tahoe shoreline sites.
Getting into Hearst Castle, for example, will jump from $12 to $25.
Entrance fees at many Bay Area parks -- including Big Basin Redwoods, Half Moon Bay State Beach, Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais -- will increase 50 percent, to about $6 per car, and possibly by a few dollars more on holiday weekends.
The biggest shocks to some outdoor lovers will come along the sunny Southern California beaches that receive millions of visitors each year. Visiting Huntington State Beach in Orange County, for example, will increase from $5 to $12 per car, and up to $14 on busy weekends.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger described himself as an environmentalist and lover of the outdoors during the recall election. On Tuesday, his top lieutenants described the fee increases, which take effect July 1, as unavoidable and said they should negate the need to close any parks as the state struggles to eliminate its $14 billion budget deficit.
``After repeated budget reductions, we have reached the point where there is no other choice,'' Parks Director Ruth Coleman said. ``This is a reasonable solution to help get the state through hard budget times. The plan keeps the system open and operating while also keeping it as affordable as possible for all Californians.''
Several environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers contacted Tuesday said that while they worry the cuts will lead to a drop-off in attendance, particularly among low-income residents, all choices are bleak.
``We think this is a reasonable response to the budget crisis, and much preferable to closing parks,'' said Sara Feldman, a spokeswoman for the California State Parks Foundation, an advocacy group in Marin County.
``Parks will still be available at reasonable rates to people. And even if they can't go to their No. 1 choice, they still will have other choices available to them,'' she said.
The chairman of the Assembly's Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee agreed.
``People have to face the reality that if they don't want tax increases and they want the budget balanced, they are going to face difficult choices,'' said Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, D-Martinez. ``This is one of the easiest decisions that will be made this year.''
Replacing funding
Other options, including commercial sponsorship of some parks -- an idea floated by then-Gov. Pete Wilson and rejected amid public opposition a decade ago -- also should be considered, Canciamilla said.
The raises, which do not require legislative approval, will raise $18 million next year, assuming a 15 percent drop from the current 85 million visitors a year, said John Shelton, chief of state parks concessions and reservations in Sacramento.
That money will offset a proposed $15 million cut in Schwarzenegger's 2004-05 budget to the state parks' $272 million annual operating budget, and leave a little left over for back-logged maintenance projects.
Ron Brean, deputy state parks director, said the fee increases have been in the works for at least four months -- before Schwarzenegger took office. If they are not imposed, the state will have to close up to 100 parks, he said.
The increases highlight a stunning downturn in state parks' fortunes over the past three years. On Jan. 1, 2001 then-Gov. Gray Davis cut fees in half, from $6 to $3 at many parks -- the lowest entrance fees since 1986. He also eliminated boat launch fees and slashed entrance fees at state museums.
But only months later, as the dot-com economy soured, tax revenues fell and state lawmakers continued to spend at record levels, the state opened a massive deficit.
Last December, Davis quietly undid much of his earlier fee cut, raising entrance fees from a maximum of $3 to a maximum of $5.
Under Schwarzenegger's plan, the maximum entrance fee will be $14. Most Northern California parks will cost $6 to $8 to enter. Overnight camping fees will jump statewide from as much as $13 to a high of $25 for basic sites, and as much as $39 for recreational-vehicle sites with hookups. Annual passes, at $67, will increase to as much as $125.
State parks superintendents also will be given new discretion to lower entrance fees in slower weekday or off-season times and raise them during weekends and summer.
Spending constraints
In a wider sense, the parks' basic problem is that there is a fortune to buy new land, after voters passed more than $9 billion in parks and water bonds over the past three years, but there is no money for rangers because of the state's deficit. Bond money can pay for maintenance, repairs and land purchases -- but not salaries, which make up more than two-thirds of the parks budget.
``I don't like the idea of raising fees,'' said Fred Keeley, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League, an environmental group in Sacramento.
``But I applaud the department for being honest about what their choices are. The real solution is to increase the size of the general fund,'' either through higher income taxes on the wealthy or sales tax on services, he said.
Endowment proposal
Two years ago, Keeley, then a state assemblyman from Santa Cruz, proposed that Davis create a $2 billion state parks endowment from the budget surplus to pay for park operations with the interest. Davis declined.
``These parks are treasures,'' Keeley said. ``All Californians inherit them. We have an obligation to pass them on intact and enhanced to the next generation. It costs money to do that. We should be willing to pay it. It is an important legacy.''