1. State Parks need a total
of $379.7M, contained in TPWD’s biennium request
of $775.8M, for its base budget plus exceptional
items. (See Item 1)
2. This session, the Legislature should dedicate
funds from the sporting goods sales
tax to state parks,
and the local park grant programs. (See Item 2)
3. State Parks needs to maintain strong, consistent
funding for local parks grant programs. The entire $47.4M
in the base budget for the biennium should be available
to open competitive grants. (See Item 3)
4. Hurricane Ike damages are about $99.0M and are
not in the initial Legislative Appropriations Request
and will have to be funded separately. (See Item 4)
5. Rider 27 (aka Appropriation of Additional Receipts)
should be reinstated. Parks should be encouraged to benefit
from self-generated revenue. (See Item 5)
6. TPWD needs salary equity. Its personnel’s salaries
lag behind comparable state agencies. It diminishes TPWD’s
ability to recruit and retain workers in park positions.
(See Item 6, $6.8M budgeted for state parks)
7. TPWD needs to continue its capital
repair program,
initiated by the 80th Legislature, and funded by General
Obligation Bonds (See Item 7, $26.6M budgeted for state
parks)
8. TPWD needs to expand accessibility to outdoor
recreation. (See Item 8, $2.3M budgeted for state parks)
9. TPWD needs staff to implement required fiscal
controls at state parks. See Item 9, $2.4M budgeted for
state parks)
10. TPWD needs acquisition and
development funds
for state parks, 50% for acquisition and 50% for development.
The base budget only includes about $5.0M statewide for
the biennium. (See Item 10, $30.0M budgeted for state
parks)
Part A – Important General
Requests Item-1 The total budget request of the Texas
Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is made
up of two parts: (1) the base budget request
and (2) the exceptional items request.
Funds
for state park-related expenses are just a
part of the total TPWD budget. Funds for some
high priority issues are actually contained
in the Exceptional Items Request,
discussed in Part B.
The budget request was made
by TPWD on September 11, 2008 and is called
the “Legislative
Appropriations Request” (LAR). It covered
two years (9/1/2009 through 8/31/2011) and (b)
funds for both the State Parks Division and other
resource Divisions.This is a snapshot of the
entire TPWD budget and the portion allocated
to State Park related expenses.
Total TPWD Base Request
for the biennium: $643.9M includes $311.6M for
Park-related expense
Total TPWD Exceptional Items Request for the
biennium: $131.9M includes $ 68.1M for Park-related
expense
Grand Total TPWD Request for the biennium: $775.8M
includes $379.7M for Park-related exp
Item-2 Although great progress was made during
the last legislative session to increase state
parks funding, the funds from the sporting goods
sales tax were NOT dedicated to state parks.
The Legislature set up a joint task force to
examine the use of the sporting goods sales tax.
It is important for the Legislature to go forward
and dedicate the funds to state parks, which
will also benefit the local parks grant program.
The 80th Legislature mandated a formula for dividing
appropriations to TPWD originating from the sporting
goods sales tax: specifically 94% to TPWD for
state and local parks and 6% to the Texas Historical
Commission. This breakdown should be maintained.
Item-3 TPWD was required to prepare a budget
incorporating a 10% reduction in the Base Request
amount -- a standard practice in recent years.
One source of reduction was the local parks grants.
HOWEVER, the devil is in the details. Last session,
$16.6 M was “earmarked” by certain
legislators for specifically named local parks
projects via Rider 34; this represented 37% of
the local parks grant budget last session. When
TPWD carried out the mandated 10% reduction,
the amount of the earmarked local grant funds
comprised part of it. The concern in this session
is that the $47.4M included in the biennium Base
Request for local parks grants be available in
its entirety to be awarded through an open local
parks grant process.
Item-4 The Grand Total Request described above
does NOT include any funds for repairing damages
to state parks caused by Hurricane Ike. Sea Rim
and Galveston Island State Parks (on the beach
side) were obliterated, but other state parks
were also damaged. The current estimated replacement
cost is $99.0 M. This will be included as part
of the revised Exceptional Item Request. It is
likely that an Emergency Appropriation Request
will be submitted for FY2009.
Item-5 DO NOT forget Rider 27 (aka Appropriation
of Additional Receipts). Rider 27 allows the
option to appropriate TPWD additional funds that
it generates itself -- IF the total amount of
revenue it actually generates exceeds what the
Comptroller estimates it will generate. The funds
must be certified by the Comptroller and approved
by the Legislative Budget Board. Although Rider
27 was a life-saver for the State Parks two years
ago, it is NOT in the draft budget. Rider 27
should be re-instated. Important point: The Legislature
should encourage the initiative of park employees
by allowing Parks Division to retain funds it
generates itself.
Part
B – Details of
the Exceptional Items Request
These are the high-priority issues for Texas
State Parks in the Exceptional Items Request: Item-6 Funding for Salary Equity: TPWD salaries
are lower on average than other state agencies
with similar responsibilities. TPWD’s average
salary lags the natural resource (Article VI)
average by about 11% and is about 16.5% less
than the average of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ). State Parks in particular faces
challenges of staff recruitment and retention.
The requested funding would provide for specific,
agency-wide adjustments and fund a merit pay
program.
Total TPWD request = $20.0 million
State Parks related portion = $6.8 million ($5.0M
for salary equity, $1.8M for merit program)
Item-7 Statewide Capital Repairs and construction:
The state park system continues to have deferred
maintenance needs that should be addressed. An
ongoing investment in infrastructure is needed
to ensure proper upkeep and avoid further increased
costs of deferred maintenance. The source of
the funds would be issuance of General Obligation
Bonds referenced in a bond package already approved
by the voters at the end of the last (80th) legislative
session.
Total TPWD request = $36.0 million
State Parks related portion = $26.6 million
Item-8 Expanded public access to outdoor recreation:
The first goal in the TPWD Land and Water Resources
Conservation and Recreation Plan is to improve
access to the outdoors through enhanced programs
such as the Texas Outdoor Family program ($0.7
M), increased marketing of TPWD programs, and
an off-road vehicle recreational site near the
Canadian River ($1.6 M).
Total TPWD request = $12.2 million
State Parks related portion = $2.3 million (16
FTE’s in FY10, 20 FTE’s in FY11)
Item-9 State Park Fiscal controls: In order to
address required fiscal control processes, improve
visitation reporting and improve business practices,
significant staff resources have been shifted
from customer services, maintenance activities
and other field operations. The requested funds
will provide additional staff to address fiscal
control process and allow other staff to attend
to park stewardship and visitor service needs.
Total TPWD request = $2.4 million
State Parks related portion = $2.4 million (47.2
FTE’s)
Item-10 Land Acquisition and Development: Note
that there is only about $5.0M statewide in Acquisition & Development
funds requested in the Base Request for the biennium.
As the urban population of the state continues
to grow, demand increases for nearby outdoor
recreational access increases. The department’s
Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation
Plan, calls for establishing a minimum of four
new 5,000 acre or larger parks near major cities.
Half of these funds will be used for land acquisition
and half will provide for development of new
park facilities such as group shelters. There
are critical inholdings and adjacent tracts that
could greatly enhance the viability of some parks
as habitat or improve recreation without significantly
raising operational costs. Development of facilities
that will draw more customers will increase the
positive economic impact of parks.
Total TPWD request = $30.0 million
State Parks related portion = $30.0 million
Sources of information: TPWD Legislative Appropriations
Request, TPWD Joint Budget Hearing Presentation
of 9/11/2008
Compiled by Evelyn L. Merz, Houston Sierra Club,
elmerz@hal-pc.org, 713-644-8228
