Arizona State Parks Director Renée Bahl appeared on the August 18, 2009, edition of PBS's Horizon. Host Ted Simons questioned Renee about how budget cuts have affected the agency's ability to manage Arizona's state parks.
Host Ted Simons:
Much had been made of the State budget cuts and their impact on education and social services but many other government functions are also feeling the pinch. The operating budget for Arizona State Parks has been slashed from 26 to about 19 million dollars. The agency was expecting about 8 million dollars from the state general fund but that’s not gonna happen. Instead the agency is relying on visitor fees and other sources of funding. Meanwhile parks have been closed. Historic buildings have fallen into disrepair and the agency is looking for creative ways to do its job. Here to tell us about the challenges facing Arizona State Parks is its Executive Director Renée Bahl. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.
Renée Bahl:
Glad to be here tonight.
Simons:
The state of the Parks system. Doesn’t sound all that hot?
Bahl:
No, it is pretty dire right now. As you mentioned our budget was 26 million. It actually should be 30 million dollars. Last February we were reduced to a 21 million dollar operating budget. Parks closed. We suspended grants. We stopped awarding grants to local communities and we reduced hours at a number of Parks. Now with the new fiscal year our budget is 19 million and our entire general fund has been eliminated.
Simons:
The entire fund?
Bahl:
The entire general fund appropriation which 13 months ago had been 8 ½ million is now zero.
Simons:
Ok. We’ve got three Parks closed including, I believe, McFarland Park in Florence?
Bahl:
McFarland in Florence and Jerome Park and Tonto Natural Bridge closed in February. We’ve worked with the community of Payson there and they’ve helped us reopen that on weekends since the Fourth of July. But both McFarland and Jerome are under repair right now.
Simons:
We should mention that the Park system also includes buildings [showing on video] like in Florence. Historic buildings that need help, need renovation, need repair.
Bahl:
They do. They’ve all fallen to the waist side in the last few years. We have probably in the neighborhood of 150 million dollars in deferred maintenance and capital improvement needs throughout our Park system.
Simons:
So the other needs what does that include?
Bahl:
That could include the Historic Parks like you are talking about. We have water lines that we need to replace. We have paving that needs to be repaired throughout our Park system. It’s everything you could imagine. They’re like little cities, little wastewater treatment plants at our parks.
Simons:
These are also little cities that affect the surrounding bigger cities. You mentioned up in Payson with Tonto Natural Bridge. I know that hurt that community quite a bit. It’s happening a lot around Arizona, correct?
Bahl:
It is. State Parks are a huge economic engine throughout the State. People that come and use our State Parks provide $250 million dollars of local taxes annually directly and indirectly. So when a Park closes it’s not just closing for use of recreation or for conservation purposes but it’s hurting that community when it closes. People aren’t visiting and they aren’t spending their tax dollars there.
Simons:
The general fund. How much does that contribute to the overall Parks budget?
Bahl:
Well, we used to have about 8 ½ million dollars. It was about one-third of our operating budget. And today it’s zero so 0%.
Simons:
Interesting but before, ideally you’d get 30%?
Bahl:
About that, about 30% percent from our park user fees, that’s when you come and spend your five dollars to enter the Park or your 20 dollars to camp, about one-third from the general fund and one-third from conservation taxes that the voters have said that they need. This includes the Heritage Fund, the Growing Smarter Funds or Lake Improvement Funds. We are able to use a portion of that to keep our system operating.
Simons:
Talk about the Heritage Fund. What it is and was money swept out the Heritage Fund? How did that work?
Bahl:
Well, the Heritage Fund for State Parks is a 10 million dollar fund when fully funded. It’s 20 million total. It comes from Lottery proceeds. This fiscal year three million dollars is transferred for fire suppression out of the Heritage Fund and about half million dollars to the natural resource conservation districts. So our 10 million dollars is slowly dwindling down and we’re using what we can to operate and there’s really not much left now of the Heritage Fund.
Simons:
Some other budget sweeps occurred as well, correct?
Bahl:
Correct. This fiscal year we lost 3 million dollars of our Enhancement Fund which is about 8 million so that’s a pretty large percent and 3 million dollars out of our Lake Improvement Fund which is a little under five million dollars so over 60% percent of it was swept.
Simons:
You mentioned grants not happening as well. Why is that?
Bahl:
They are not happening for the reasons that I’ve mentioned, due to the sweeps. Those are the monies that we award to local communities to build out their parks. Because we are really a State Park system but the money is just not there.
Simons:
Is there a way for the Park system to be self-sufficient? I ask that with the idea are there privatization models, sales and leasebacks, these sorts of things? Is there something that you guys can do to get out of that general fund merry-go-round?
Bahl:
Well the first thing to remember is we were never designed to be a self-sufficient department. Most State Parks departments are not. For the little bit of general fund money that was put in, we’re a huge economic engine. But there is a Task Force right now looking at self sufficiency models to fund our system of State Parks. They are looking at a variety of mechanisms to get us out of legislative appropriations year-after-year so we can operate. Is there an opportunity for privatization? I think there is always an opportunity for appropriate uses at Parks to provide additional recreational amenities. But these are State Parks. They are for the public and they should be operated by the State.
Simons:
State Parks for the public. Could you also include a co-op management system where not just the state but everyone’s involved in making this thing work.
Bahl:
Absolutely. We welcome partners. We have partners is Yuma now helping operate the State Parks. We have private concessions at some of our parks to offer different amenities, recreational uses. As long as it’s open to the public and we have access and it’s appropriate access, that’s what is important to us.
Simons:
Give us a timeline now for when we can start looking for some of our other State Parks to perhaps not be open anymore?
Bahl:
The State Parks Board will have some very difficult decisions to make at their upcoming September 11 Board Meeting. We will be proposing to them how to meet these additional budget cuts. These additional 2 million dollar cuts on top of what’s already been closed. They’re going to look at everything from visitation to revenue to economic viability of all of these parks and they’re going to have to make cuts in our programs and parks.
Simons:
Right now you guys are operating on a day-to-day cash flow basis basically?
Bahl:
We are. It’s pretty much month-to-month. We used to have one year’s of operation set aside. Now we wait for the revenue to come in and basically spend it the next month. There’s no more cash in the funds.
Simons:
Is this getting the attention of the legislature or is it just getting lost in the roar?
Bahl:
Probably it’s getting lost in the roar. We need to remember you don’t need to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment and you can have both.
Simons:
Thank you Renée for joining us.
Bahl:
I appreciate it, too.
Program Ends
Board Adopts a Reduced Operating Budget for 2010: Read More 
[Skip] Home Find a Park Arizona Map Fee Schedule
PDF Documents Require Adobe Reader
Read External Link Disclaimer