BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUDGET
Nancy Skinner, Chair
AB 2267 (Gaines) - As Amended: March 28, 2014
SUBJECT : State park system: budgeting.
SUMMARY : : Requires the Department of Parks and
Recreation (department), commencing with the 2015-16 budget
proposal, to annually develop and publish state operation
expenditures for the state park system to assist in the
development of the Governor's annual budget proposal.
Specifically, this bill :
1) Requires the department, in cooperation with the
Department of Finance, to provide individual park unit
expenditures analyses, as specified.
2) Requires the department, by January 1, 2016, to develop
and implement a plan to annually track park unit
expenditures through department accounting personnel and
personnel located at, or dedicated to, a particular park
unit. The plan shall account for, and list specifically,
all expenditures made at park units and shall report the
specific park unit expenditures that were made in the prior
fiscal year, that were made and anticipated to be made in
the current fiscal year, and that are presented in the
Governor's current budget proposal for the next fiscal
year. The tracking shall not include estimates of district
allocations made to park units, but shall reflect unit
worksheets, timesheets, statements, and spreadsheets that
document actual park unit expenditures made by the park
unit itself.
EXISTING LAW : Places responsibility of the state park system,
which includes all parks, public camp grounds, monument sites,
landmark sites, and sites of historical interest established or
acquired by the state, with the Department of Parks and
Recreation. Existing law requires the department to gather,
digest, and summarize, in its annual reports to the Governor,
information concerning the state park system and the relation to
the state park system of other available means for conserving,
developing, and utilizing the scenic and recreational resources
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of the state. Existing law also requires each state agency to
submit to the Department of Finance a complete and detailed
annual budget setting forth all expenditures and estimated
revenues for the ensuing fiscal year.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Department of Parks and
Recreation, if the language in the bill is intended to mean
that someone shall be responsible for a particular park unit,
but not physically located there, then the department would need
two additional budget analysts at headquarters ($200,000). If
the intent of the legislation is to develop and implement a plan
to annually track park unit expenditures "through department
accounting personnel and personnel located at, or dedicated to,
a particular park unit" through staff located at each of the 280
units, staffing needs would be much greater creating a very
significant increase in costs for the bill.
COMMENTS : The Department of Parks and Recreation (department)
is responsible for preserving the State's biological diversity,
protecting natural, cultural, and historical resources, and
creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation for
current and future generations. With a budget of $554.3 million
for fiscal year 2014-15, the department manages more than 270
park properties or units, such as state beaches, state historic
parks, and off-highway vehicle parks.
The department's park system is organized into 25 districts,
five of which include off-highway vehicle parks. Many of the
districts are further organized into 66 smaller groupings called
sectors, and each sector comprises several park properties. The
department receives funding from several sources, including the
State's General Fund, various bond funds, and several special
funds such as the State Parks and Recreation Fund and the
Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund.
In 2012, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee requested the
State Auditor (BSA) conduct an audit concerning the department's
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oversight and management of the state park system and budgeting
practices. BSA's report, issued in February 2013, contained
numerous recommendations, including the following:
To assure the Legislature and the public that future
proposed park service reductions and closures are
appropriate to achieve any required budget reduction, the
department should develop individual park operating costs
and update these costs periodically. These individual park
costs should include all direct and indirect costs
associated with operating the park, and the aggregated
costs of all the individual parks should correspond with
the related fiscal year's actual expenditures needed to
operate the department's park system. Additionally, when
proposing park service reductions or closures in the
future, the department should compare the most recent cost
estimates to the amount the department determines is
necessary to fully operate its 278 parks at the 2010 level
to determine the actual amount of the reductions or
closures needed.
Further, the 2013-14 Budget Package directed the Department of
Parks and Recreation to provide the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee a park by park budget by December 1, 2013. On January
10, 2013, the department submitted a report to the Committee
estimating how district expenditures were distributed among the
park units for fiscal year 2010-11, including direct and
indirect costs associated with operating each park unit. Using
the same criteria, the department projected park unit budget
plans for fiscal year 2013-14.
In January 2014, the Department released its Park Unit Costing
report. The increased level of fiscal information provided in
this report and in the future will allow for a greater
understanding regarding how departmental funding is allocated
amongst the various State parks.
In developing this report, the costs for the park system fall
into two main categories of expenditures:
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Direct Expenditures - These are the direct expenditures
for providing services in a park unit, from the district
level down-identified as staffing and operating expenses in
this report.
Indirect Overhead Expenditures - These include the cost
of support services for the park unit and support provided
by the Departments Headquarters operation-identified as
distributed admin and core programs in this report.
Going forward, the Department is tracking expenditures for the
park system at the park unit level and will release expenditures
at this the park unit level annually.
The BSA's states that the department "fully implemented" its
above recommendation:
The department provided us with park operating costs for
fiscal year 2010-11 which met our expectations and while we
acknowledge the department's efforts to implement our
recommendation, effective September 2013 state law was
amended removing the requirement for the department to
determine the amount necessary to fully operate its 278
parks at the 2010 level. As a result, that portion of our
recommendation has been resolved.
The department also provided us with projected park costs
for fiscal year 2013-14 which also appear to meet our
expectations. We have assessed this recommendation as fully
implemented provided the department continues with its
current methodology to determine park operating costs and
report those amounts to the Legislature beginning in fiscal
year 2013-14, as we recommended in a subsequent report
dated September 2013
This bill directs the department to provide individual park unit
expenditure analyses that detail the direct and indirect
expenditures for each park unit and include, at a minimum, all
of the following:
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Staffing and operation expenses of each park unit.
Costs of administrative activities that are budgeted by
the department and implemented by individual park units.
The share of the department's overhead costs, which
include the costs associated with maintaining the
department, attributable to the individual park units. For
purposes of this section, overhead costs include direct and
indirect costs to the department of the park units, as well
as the costs to operate the department as a whole.
Expenditures mandated by the department to perform its
core programs, as defined by the department's mission
statement, and incurred by the individual park units.
As discussed above, the department is already tracking
expenditures for the park system at the park unit level and
plans to release expenditures at this the park unit level
annually along with the Governor's Budget.
The bill also directs the department to develop and implement a
plan to annually track park unit expenditures through department
accounting personnel and personnel located at, or dedicated to,
a particular park unit. Further, the bill specifies that the
plan account for, and list specifically, all expenditures made
at park units and report the specific park unit expenditures
that were made in the prior fiscal year, that were made and
anticipated to be made in the current fiscal year, and that are
presented in the Governor's current budget proposal for the next
fiscal year.
Currently, the department does not track park unit expenditures
with accounting personnel at individual park units, but rather
with district personnel. As mentioned previously, there are 280
park units organized in to 25 districts. Implementing this
provision would require a substantial increase in department
staff. Finally, this bill would require park unit budgeting be
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displayed in the Governor's annual budget, rather than as a
separate department document. The display of the Governor's
Budget is under the purview of the Department of Finance.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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Opposition
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Analysis Prepared by : Gabrielle Meindl / BUDGET / (916)
319-2099