With backup cash dwindling and no new income streams in sight, the state might sign a corporate sponsor to stave off park closures.

“We’re trying to get very creative in the way that we survive here,” Nancy Merrill, state Parks and Recreation Department director, told IdahoReporter.com on Monday.

Merrill said department public relations staffers have consulted with a firm specializing in corporate-naming matchmaking and that a sponsorship policy will be presented to the department board in February. Potential partnerships with specific companies have not been discussed and how much money a deal might generate isn’t known, Merrill said. A handful of other states’ parks departments are exploring advertising arrangements with companies, according to the AP. Virginia is negotiating sponsorship with The North Face, while park workers’ uniforms in New Hampshire could soon sport the emblem of a regional outdoor outfitter.

Such is possible here, Merrill said, as is corporate logos slapped on signs, maps, trail markers, playgrounds, and recycle bins. She said she’s wary of a potential backlash to commercialization of parks and that any corporate branding would be done “carefully and modestly.” Corporate names would not be tagged to facilities, she said.

“I think that we have to realize that we have a resource to protect. We don’t want to take away from nature,” she said, adding, “Commercialization is a difficult thing.”

Difficult, but perhaps necessary to maintain the parks system, which counts 30 facilities and about 4 million users per year. The department only avoided closing any parks this year by slashing 25 workers, raising various fees, drawing from reserves and borrowing from a recreation vehicle registration fee account. The moves were a response to Gov. Butch Otter and the Legislature cutting general fund money given to parks from $6 million to $1.4 million per year. The department’s $30.4 million budget for fiscal year 2011 is $8 million less than the year before.

Given the extent of job cuts already made, Merrill said, “we really don’t have any place to go. The only thing we have left to do is to close the least revenue-generating parks.”

Besides corporate sponsorship, the department is considering doing away with $40 annual passes, which require a special effort to purchase, and instead allowing people year-long access by checking a box and paying $5 when they register their vehicles — more revenue has resulted from the switch in other states. Developing a smart phone application that would charge users to access parks information is another idea being batted around.

Said Merrill of the varied offbeat possibilities: “We’re kicking over every stone we can.”

In 2009, legislators said “no,” voting to do away with annual allocations to the agencies — $16-18 million per year to ISP and $4-5 million per year to parks. Lawmakers later eased up, voting in March of this year to push back the changes one year, until July 2011.

Rep. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said the Legislature “had gone too far” in pulling the funds, which, at least for police, Gov. Butch Otter  had first proposed in 2009. Cameron chaired a post-session task force charged with finding new money for police and parks. The conclusion: “We hope when we find additional funding for transportation, we can tag on and find additional funding for Idaho State Police, he told IdahoReporter.com in March. The task force recommended reinstating gas tax funding for police and parks but left it to another task force to figure out how.

At a Friday meeting of the governor’s task force on modernizing transportation funding, Lt. Gov. Brad Little, chairman, called the recommendations a “punt” to his committee. 
”Do we want to receive the ball and punt (to the Legislature)?” Little asked. “Do we do nothing and fumble the punt?”

Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, was quick to make a stand, making a motion to recommend reinstatement of all gas tax funding to the state police. He withdrew the motion after others on the task force called for patience.

“I kind of feel like we may be doing this on the fly a little bit,” said Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He suggested the group hold off making a conclusion on police and parks funding until it learns more about viable options for raising more money for road work.

The task force is set to review that information, and make recommendations to the Legislature, at its final meeting Nov. 23. The group has been meeting since last year.

Task force member Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, chair of the House Transportation and Defense Committee, said in an interview Monday that it’s not likely the task force will produce a solid position but instead will offer legislators a list of fundraising methods and how much they might generate.
 However, state staffers on Friday couldn’t give task force members reliable figures for several of the options, including taxing sales of auto parts and cars, which was among a slew of proposals Gov. Otter put forward in his 2009 State of Idaho address.

Dan John, tax policy supervisor with the state tax commission, said Idaho, unlike many other states, does not track product sales closely enough to know how much money a tax might bring in.

“We would never be able to get you the right number,” he said. 
In his address, Otter added his heft to Wood’s long-standing demand that roads get general fund money and directed the tax commission to set up a system to track sales of automobiles, tires, and auto parts.

“Determining the size and stability of that particular revenue stream is a necessary step before we can even consider using those sales tax receipts for our highways and bridges. While I am not advocating a shift in those revenues today, it is important for us to compile the data so that we can make informed decisions down the road,” said Otter.

Regarding the level of information provided to the tax force, Wood said: “I don’t think we’re they’re yet. There’s still a lot out there.”

In addition to solid sales numbers, Wood said she wants to see results of a review of a recent study done for the Idaho Transportation Department that concluded owners of cars and light trucks are paying more than their fair share for road work and that owners of big trucks aren’t paying enough, considering the damage each inflicts on roads. Wood said she questions the study’s validity and has asked staffers to review the criteria.

Addressing the task force Friday, ISP Director Col. Jerry Russell said his agency uses the gas tax money — which equals about 30 percent of the $55 million budget — to patrol state highways. What the loss would mean to the state police Russell did not make clear at the meeting. He did not respond to a request seeking further comment.

The approximately $4 million annual gas tax payment to parks is tied to fuel used by off-road vehicles. The money is supposed to go toward maintaining trails. The parks and recreation budget this year is $34.8 million. No one from the agency was on hand to make a case for reinstated funding.

Task force member Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, questioned his colleagues’ concern for parks and police.

“This committee is charged with finding additional money, concentrating on roads,” he said. “(That) is our primary function.”

Little responded, offering the discussion’s concluding remarks: “I think when times get tough … times like now, we have to reassess what is the proper role of government.”

Read Otter’s news release below.

FACTS CAN BE STUBBORN – BUT THEY’RE NECESSARY
By Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter

In December 1770, while arguing for the acquittal of British soldiers charged with killing his fellow Americans in the Boston Massacre, John Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

There was a time when most newspaper columnists at least paid lip service to the good intentions of public officials. They might be misguided, shortsighted or simply stupid, the writers would suggest, but at least they meant well. Social niceties were observed; there was a higher level of mutual respect and civility.

That just isn’t the case anymore. Too many writers now ignore, gloss over or leave out facts they find at odds with their conclusion or the point they’re trying to make. Facts after all, as Adams said, can be stubborn things – and inconvenient.

As Governor, I expect to take my share of flak. It’s more than fair to criticize and even blast me. You don’t spend as long as I have in public life, or in business for that matter, without developing a pretty thick skin. But while I’m grateful to live in a country where the Constitution protects our right to freely express our opinions, I still am disappointed when some portray their opinions as facts.

Let me cite a couple of recent cases in point, without either crediting or condemning the offending parties:

The Claim: Otter wants to cut funding for public schools.

The Fact: Faced with revenue shortfalls, a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, the fact that public schools make up a big share of the State budget, and the political reality that nobody wants to raise taxes – especially in an election year – I made the difficult decision that public schools would have to share the burden facing every other agency of State government and indeed every other Idaho citizen.

The Claim: Otter wants to shut down State parks and the Department of Parks and Recreation, Idaho Public Television, the Idaho Human Rights Commission, the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs, the Idaho Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the State Independent Living Council.

The Fact: I encouraged all State agencies in September 2009 to submit proposals for saving as much taxpayer money as possible. I wanted agency directors and administrators to have the flexibility to find efficiencies and savings without doing damage to their core statutory and constitutional missions. Most came through like champions, in many cases exceeding my expectations. However, Idaho Public Television said there was no savings to be had – anywhere. Facing the deadline for submitting budget proposals, I submitted plans for moving those budgets off the taxpayer-supported General Fund over four years. It was an effort to nudge those agencies toward the greater efficiency we need, or give them the chance to find alternative funding methods; the choice was theirs. Director Nancy Merrill of the Department of Parks and Recreation stepped up with a business plan for every park and a “can do” approach. The Human Rights Commission and Director Pam Parks – with the help of Roger Madsen at the Department of Labor – also found a way to address their budget needs, and those of Idaho taxpayers. The Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is getting administrative and support services help from the Department of Health and Welfare and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The other agencies all are working hard to find solutions.

It was not an artful process. That’s a fair criticism. However, I did not propose closing any parks or eliminating any agencies. I did not propose “a batch of half-baked plans to zero out small but politically popular state services.” I did not ignore “hidden costs.” My approach was not, “If it brings joy to people, government has no business doing it.” And I am not trying “to run parks or public TV on the cheap.”

I understand that columnists are in the business of selling newspapers. I also understand that responsibility and prudent financial management are not exciting or headline-grabbing topics. However, they are at the heart of what State government must do on behalf of the people we serve.

It’s unfortunate that some columnists consider facts little more than obstacles to be overcome or sidestepped, justified in their minds by the righteous end of afflicting those who they consider “comfortable.”

But Adams was right 240 years ago. He still is.

Here is the full text from the Allred release:

“After nearly two weeks of travel throughout Idaho, gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred says that Idahoans from across the political spectrum are united in their concern over Otter’s erratic leadership.

“In communities across Idaho, I’ve heard Republicans, Democrats, and independents express outrage over Otter’s proposed cuts to education, Idaho Public Television and Idaho State Parks,” Allred says.  “These aren’t partisan complaints.  These are just people who think Otters’ proposals are the wrong answers.”

Allred agrees with what’s he heard.  “These are the toughest economic circumstances in Idaho in my lifetime. We need good leadership more than ever,” Allred says. “But what we’re getting from Gov. Otter is irrational pessimism and recklessness. Idaho deserves better.”

Otter’s proposal to cut education ignores evidence-based projections predicting more than $80 million in increased revenue.

Otter’s proposal to cut state funding to Idaho Public Television would save the state just $1.5 million a year. That’s about $1 for each Idahoan.

“Idaho Public Television is one of the most effective ways for Idahoans to keep track of what their elected officials are doing in Boise in this geographically dispersed state,” Allred says. “It’s one of the few things that really bring us together as a state. A dollar a year is a bargain for that.”

Otter’s proposal to cut funding to Idaho State Parks is of a piece with his reckless idea to cut education and IPTV.  It is a proposal that, like many other Otter ideas, has been rebuffed by everyday Idahoans and the Legislature.

Even as he’s proposed these cuts, the Otter administration has spent more than $70,000 for showy ribbon cutting events to celebrate highway projects, according to the Idaho Statesman.

“Otter is waving a white flag of surrender to circumstances,” Allred says.  “That goes against how I was raised.  On my grandfather’s ranch, when times got tough, you rolled up your sleeves and went to work.”

(Note: Allred had a busy day Friday.  After he released this statement, the Idaho Republican Party criticized him for failing to file a lobbyist report with the Idaho Secretary of State.  Read the statement from the GOP here and Allred’s response here.)

Cronin pitched the plan to the House Transportation and Defense Committee Tuesday, saying that Idaho’s more than 12,000 miles in trails are in continuous need of repair and upkeep and the money generated from the sale of the plates would help the state provide materials and labor for trail maintenance.  In an interview with IdahoReporter.com following the hearing, Cronin said the new plates could generate as much as $10,000 annually for the state.

People are assessed extra charges for the designer plate only if they choose it when they register their motor vehicles.  Cronin stressed that this is not a measure to require license plate for bicycles.  The plates would be similar to others offered by the state.  Idaho already has a myriad of plates available for drivers to choose from, offering everything from plates recognizing potatoes, firefighters, or the National Rifle Association, to those honoring veterans or Idaho colleges and universities.   Specialty plates are not required by the state and drivers have the option to choose to have the standard red, white, blue plates offered by the Division of Motor Vehicles.  (You can see the full offering here.)

According to Cronin, drivers who choose the biking plates would be charged $35 for a first time registration, with $13 of that going to the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and the other $22 going to Parks and Rec for trail upkeep.  For annual renewal, drivers would pay $25, with the standard $13 going to ITD and $12 going for trails.

The plates have a colorful mountain biker on the left side and it is unclear if the biker is a male or female, which was a concern of Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise.  Cronin said it appears to him that the biker is a male, but it can be open to interpretation.

“Well, you’ve lost my vote,” said King jokingly.

The committee voted to introduce the bill.  Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, and Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, voted against the measure.

All the parks’ projections are assuming no drop in park visits or sales.  Jennifer Wernex, communications director for the parks department, said that’s a safe assumption, because more people have been visiting state parks during the past few years, and visitation jumped 16 percent from 2008 to 2009. “There’s always likelihood that some folks may not be willing to pay these prices,” Wernex said.  She said the parks department asked some park goers about potential increases.  “What we’ve heard is that state park visitors are going to be more than willing to pay that slight increase.”  Wernex said the revenues for potential new fees aren’t part of the state budget proposals before lawmakers right now.

The biggest source of revenue among fees already on the books is the increased price of entering parks by car.  Adding $1 to a daily entrance and $10 to an annual pass is expected to bring in more than $290,420 in the next budget.  There are several other new fees expected to bring in thousands:

- $148,500 from increases leases and utilities at Heyburn State Park in northern Idaho.

- $74,890 from increasing camping fees at some high demand parks.

- $15,800 from a 10-25 percent increase in leasing a dock slip at Lucky Peak State Park in Boise.

- $9,340 from increasing fees for using waterfront campsites or camper cabins.

Among potential new fees, the biggest source of new revenue would be on raising campsite fees.  Fees would go up as little as $1 for primitive sites with no amenities to $7 for companion campsites with water, electricity, and sewers.  All told, the campsite fees could bring in $287,724.  The parks department is looking at two other fee sources:

- $138,875 in additional entrance fees, including raising the annual pass from $35 to $40, doubling the price for an annual pass for a second family vehicle from $5 to $10, and tripling the surcharge penalty for not paying other fees from $5 to $15.

- $4,330 from increasing moorage fees for boats.

Democrat Jean McDevitt of Pocatello has served on the park board since 1997, and was reappointed last year by Gov. Butch Otter to another six-year term.  Members of a Senate panel used her reconfirmation hearing to make sure she’s on board with the changes.

“Economic times are very, very difficult,” Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, told McDevitt and lawmakers.  “So I have every confidence that the board is going to work together as a team with the director to see us through these tough times in a very efficient manner.”  Schroeder has introduced a plan to strip the park board’s power and make it merely advisory.  He’s said he will only go forward with that plan if the board doesn’t go along with park director Nancy Merrill’s proposed changes.  McDevitt indicated that she supports Merrill’s changes.

Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, voiced concern about expanding partnerships with private companies to keep parks open.  “I’m a little leery of what that could mean,” he told McDevitt.  “Once you start taking money from people they start telling you should and shouldn’t do…. In essence it comes down to how far you are willing to go to leverage our parks.”  He said didn’t want to see Idaho’s parks turning into Disneyland.

McDevitt said she wants Merrill to find more partnerships, saying they could come from cities and counties as well as private businesses.  “I am not really greatly enthusiastic about having ‘Welcome to Cascade State Park, sponsored by Pepsi or Nike,” she said. “That’s a little farther than I want to go… but I think we’re willing to look at these kinds of things.”  McDevitt said some parks are already partnering, including a snowmobile grooming partnership at Bear Lake State Park near St. Charles in southeastern Idaho.  McDevitt said those kinds of connections could be expanded. “If a car dealership wants to donate a little money to help a trail or snowmobile grooming, there’s some way we could do that and have them get recognition for it.”

Director Merrill said she also doesn’t want to sell naming right to parks, but could let private companies operate concession stands or campgrounds.  “We certainly don’t want to commercialize our parks,” she said.  “We’re trying to be a little more creative in our thinking.”  She said she will have to work with the park board to come up with rules for private/public partnerships across the state.

Werk also asked McDevitt if state parks can survive over the long haul without state funding.  “I don’t see for us being able to care for our state parks’ infrastructure without general funds,” he said.

“When I see a sign entering our park and it says “Idaho State Park” …  I feel the state of Idaho puts their name on something, they have an obligation to be proud of it also,” McDevitt said.  She said state parks can make do without state funding for several years.  “We can hold on for quite a while. We’re hoping the economy turns around.  We’re hoping that we will get some people that really want to help us, whether it’s counties, cities or other organizations.  We hope the state of Idaho will do that also.”

“This is not fluff or extra money,” Merrill said about the proposed $4.5 million reduction in state spending to the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation in the next budget.  “We are down to our bare bones.  This will not be easy and will be painful.”

Merrill discussed the plan to fill that $4.5 million dollar gap, which she and Gov. Butch Otter announced on Jan. 22.  The plan includes raising some user fees that already rose at the beginning of the year.  The price of an annual pass for a car to visit state parks went from $25 to $35 in January, and Merrill is calling for another $5 increase.  A one-day pass went from $4 to $5 in January.  Merrill is also calling for the fee to use a campsite to go from $2 to $3, and wants to raise fees for leasing cabins and docks, though she did not specify an amount.

“We have a responsibility to provide a park system, but not a free park system,” said Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome.  She said user fees make sense for funding state parks.

“Idaho state parks will continue to provide a tremendous value to the state of Idaho,” Merrill told Bell and other members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Monday.  She said the cost of going to state parks is well below other entertainment costs, such as going to the movies or playing  golf.  “Parks are a great deal for families,” Merrill said.

The plan now includes laying off 15 current parks employees and eliminating 10 vacant positions.  The workforce reduction is expected to save $1.1 million in the next budget.  Ten of the 15 employees who could be let go are in Boise.  There are two layoffs each at Land of Yankee Fork State Park in Challis and South Thousand Springs State Park in Hagerman, and one ranger at Farragut State Park in Coeur d’Alene.  The parks department is looking to fill six vacancies, four of which are in Boise.

Merrill also said that every state park is working on a five-year business plan to lower costs and increase revenues.  Those plans must be approved by the parks board, which meets this week, before those plans become public.  Merrill said each of Idaho’s 29 state parks has specific things to do.

Lawmakers on JFAC received a copy of the preliminary plans.  “Anytime you’re looking ahead five years is a step in the right direction,” Bell said.    She said the parks and recreation department has looked at a lot of changes since Otter’s recommendation to eliminate state funding was announced.  “”They were hit right between the eyes,” she said.

One proposal being floated by the parks department is eliminating the day pass and annual pass to drive into parks in favor of a $5 fee on vehicle registrations that would go to parks.  Montana and Washington have a similar fee, but Idaho  voters would need to approve that switch, because the state Constitution currently requires all registration dollars to go to highway funding.  Merrill said that plan is a concept idea that isn’t needed to balance the next budget.

Idaho parks get 4.2 million visitors a year, including 1.2 million out-of-staters, according to the department.  Merrill said that amounts to a $40 million boost to the state economy.  “Recreation is a big business for Idaho and local communities are the big benefactor,” she said.  She added that the department is doing what it can to survive in the economic downturn.  “Our board and our staff are committed to becoming a self-sufficient department… We are determined to be the stewards of the beautiful Idaho that we have.”

Schroeder said there have been financial and managerial problems at the parks department during the past year.  “I’m not going to allow the state board to cut her off at the knees and not allow her to press forward as the governor’s articulated and as I think should be done,” Schroeder said.  “This is a very strong message that we’re sending today.  We want a parks department.  We want to allow director Merrill to institute the changes that are necessary to make it successful.  If that’s not allowed to happen, we would transfer the power from the board to the director.”

Currently, the board appoints the parks director, but Schroeder’s proposal would give the governor power to appoint the director.

Schroeder said he’s touched based with all the key players, discussing his measure with Otter’s staff and Merrill.  Schroeder chairs the Senate Resource and Environment Committee, where he introduced the legislation.

The six-member Idaho Parks and Recreation Board will meet next week in Boise.  Their agenda includes discussing Otter’s budget recommendations and meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol.