BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1589
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1589 (Huffman) - As Amended: May 16, 2012
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 12-0
Revenue and Taxation 8-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill modifies the process by which the Department of Parks
and Recreation (DPR) identifies park units for closure, and
authorizes and seeks to identify and require revenue generating
mechanisms. (Summary continued below.)
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Appropriation of $25 million from Proposition 84 bond monies
to DPR to fund (a) the capital costs of construction and
installation of new revenue and fee collection infrastructure,
(b) other physical upgrades to park lands and facilities, and
(c) development and implementation of the park action plan
required by this bill.
2)Potential cost pressure in the millions of dollars to
implement the park action plan, which this bill requires, to
the extent plan elements exceed Proposition 84 bond monies
appropriated for that amount (General Fund, special fund and
bond funds).
3)Cost pressure of an unknown but significant amount,
potentially in the millions of dollars, to the extent the
bill's 25-park-closure limitation prevents DPR making
necessary budget reductions (General Fund, special funds and
bond funds.)
4)One-time costs of an unknown amount, but potentially in the
low hundreds of thousands of dollars, to DFG in 2012-13 to
consider additional criteria in selecting parks for closure
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(General Fund, special funds of bond funds).
5)One-time costs to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), in the range
of $400,000 to $600,000, in 2012-13 to make programming
changes and revise tax forms, to be reimbursed by DPR from the
sale of state parks passes (special fund).
6)Ongoing loss of an unknown but presumably minor amount of
personal income tax revenue, to the extent the bill results in
tax-deductible donations for state parks purposes (Personal
Income Tax Fund).
7)Potential one-time costs to the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) in the range of $400,000 to $500,000, upon receipt of
7,500 applications for state parks license plates, to make
programming changes and design and fabricate specialized
license plates (MVA). These costs should be fully covered by
fees paid by applicants for the state parks plates.
8)Potential ongoing revenue of an unknown amount, possibly in
the millions of dollars and well in excess of the costs
identified above, to DPR, to the extent the revenue-generating
activities identified and required by this bill result in
increased park fees collection, park pass sales and state park
license plate issuance (special fund).
SUMMARY (continued)
Specifically, this bill:
1)Directs DPR to achieve required budget reductions by
implementing efficiencies, increasing revenue collection and,
only as a last resort, the closure or partial closure of state
park units.
2)Limits to 25 the number of park units DPR may fully close from
2012 through 2016 without express legislative authorization.
3)Requires DPR to develop and implement an action plan to
increase revenues and collection of user fees at state parks,
and mandates inclusion of specific actions to be included in
the plan, such as (a) installation of modern fee collection
technologies, (b) implementation of peak demand pricing and
other variable and responsive pricing mechanisms, (c)
mission-appropriate fee-for-service opportunities, and (d)
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promotion of sponsorship of parks through private donations.
4)Appropriates $25 million from the unexpended balance of DPR's
Proposition 84 bond monies and dedicates that amount to fund
(a) the capital costs of construction and installation of new
revenue and fee collection infrastructure (b) other physical
upgrades to park lands and facilities, and (c) development and
implementation of the action plan described above.
5)Revises the process by which DPR identifies park units for
closure due to required budget reductions. For example, the
bill (a) requires DPR to document and publicly disclose its
methodology for selecting park units for closure, (b) recasts
rate of visitation to also include the extent to which the
total capacity of a unit is utilized, and (c) explicitly
states that DPR is to consider the potential for public and
nonprofit partnerships for support of each park unit, the
impact of unit closure on local and regional economies, the
effect of the closure on compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, and the closure's effect on public safety.
6)Authorizes DPR to use at another park unit the revenues from
one park unit that are in excess of the amount needed for the
operation and maintenance of that park unit.
7)Requires FTB to revise tax forms to allow a taxpayer to
designate tax refund amounts for state park's purposes and to
purchase state park annual passes from tax refund amounts when
filing his or her tax return, and provides a tax deduction for
such actions for amounts in excess of the price of the state
parks pass, to be deposited in the California State Parks
Account to fund state parks operation, maintenance and
restoration.
8)Requires the DMV to make available, once DPR has submitted
7,500 applications, special state parks environmental license
plate (ELPs) featuring a full-plate graphic of a California
Redwood, subject to the following voluntary fees, in addition
to any fees otherwise required: (a) $50 for original issuance,
(b) $40 for renewal, (c) $15 for transfer, and (d) $35 for
replacement.
9)Directs fee revenue from state parks ELPs, minus DMV
administration costs and other dedicated fee revenue, to the
California State Parks Account to fund state parks operation,
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maintenance and restoration.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author intends this bill to improve DPR's
process for identifying park units that need to be closed for
budget reasons and to increase revenue available for park
operation, maintenance and restoration.
2)Background. The state park system includes 278 parks and
serves over 70 million visitors a year. The park system is
supported by the General Fund, park fees and special funds,
including bond funds. In recent years, DPR has experienced
repeated, significant reductions to the support it receives
from the General Fund. Most recently, the 2011-12 budget
reduced General Fund support by $11 million, to be followed by
an additional $11 million reduction in 2012-13.
The 2012-13 Governor's Budget proposes to address the parks
funding reduction by closing up to 70 state parks by July
2012. In keeping with this proposal, DPR, working off
criteria provided in legislation, identified 70 state parks
for closure. Many stakeholders, including members of the
Legislature, have been critical of DPR's process, describing
it as opaque, insensitive to public and private costs
associated with closure of particular park units, and
inflexible in its consideration of cost saving alternatives to
park closure.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081