With a budget deficit anticipated to reach $47 billion over the next four years, the state legislature and Paterson administration are pursuing ways to avoid New York finding itself in the same mess that California is in. Unfortunately, it seems that their solutions often side-step practicality without truly trimming much off the deficit. Case in point is the various attempts to save money by slashing popular programs under the public outdoors umbrella. These aren’t the big dollar “pork” budget items, but rather those that tend to impact the general public, especially those of us who enjoy outdoor activities.
This kicked off last year when the state’s last remaining pheasant rearing facility was set to be put on the chopping block to “save” the $750K annual cost of running the facility. However, it was later proven that the facility was actually making a profit of $300K annually and the decision was reversed, but only after heavy lobbying by outdoor groups and a report of the fiscal facts. This may have been a hint of why New York finds itself in financial trouble. What accounting genius concluded that the facility wasn’t actually generating a profit? All they did was look at the program’s budgeted cost and instead of saving $750 it actually would’ve added $300K to the overall state budget red column.
Next on the line cuts were several state campground facilities. DEC is responsible for managing 52 campgrounds and 7-day-use areas in New York's Adirondack Park and Catskill Park. But perhaps having learned from the pheasant program fiasco, these are not slated to be closed but rather their operating seasons cut back. The majority are in the sparsely populated Adirondacks. Also considered for closure are several of the state’s 350 boating access sites.
The following campgrounds will be operated under an abbreviated season – from June 26 through Labor Day. Bear Spring Mountain, Walton, Delaware County. The previous decision to close the camping area within this facility remains in effect. However, numerous horse and hiking trails and associated trailhead parking areas at this popular Wildlife Management Area will continue to be available for public use. There will be no fee for parking.
In the Adirondacks, the following campgrounds will see their seasons shortened: Point Comfort, Arietta, Hamilton County; Sharp Bridge, North Hudson, Essex County; Tioga Point; Raquette Lake, Hamilton County; and Poke-O-Moonshine, Keeseville, Essex County. So far, Bowman Lake State Park’s camprounds’ open schedule remains the same, May 15 to October 11, 2009 and Sites 167-199 are open from May 15 to September 6, 2009.
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is adopting a variety of fee increases that may generate $6.5 million in additional revenue during 2009-10. A number of these changes have already been implemented in order to capture additional funds this fiscal year. Park user fee increases are being implemented in the following areas: camping, cabins, marinas, golf, the Empire Passport, and miscellaneous regional fees (such as picnic shelter rentals). The revenue from these fee increases, which by law are dedicated back to the agency, is said to enable the agency to avoid what otherwise would be much deeper service cuts at parks and sites. We’ll see if that plays out as planned.
The latest project to save funds is the proposed closing of the Saratoga Tree Nursery which has been in existence since 1902. The 250-acre nursery, with a staff of ten, commands a budget of around $750,000 which is offset by $250,000 in revenue. It once produced 15 million seedlings a year (mainly during the Civilian Conservation Corp era) for reforestation efforts across the state but now produces around 1.5 million seedlings annually which are primarily purchased by private citizens and groups through DEC and Cooperative Extension. Okay, let me get this straight … if the fee increases may generate an additional $6.5M annually, the Saratoga facility’s annual operational cost of $750K (actually a net cost of $500K) appears rather insignificant in comparison.
Certainly the problem in New York State boils down to one simple observation: our state government spends more than it takes in. Every elected state official has his or her own list of pet pork projects, all of which are primarily intended to help them get re-elected. New York has precious little industry anymore. It is very evident in our upstate region …. IBM is almost gone, as is what was once Morton-Norwich and Norwich Pharmaceuticals and also Scintilla, Kodak is shadow of its former self, Smith-Corona is gone, Ithaca Gun is gone. The list goes on and on.
Why? Taxes were just too high and the attraction of moving to other states or outsourcing to other countries helped their bottom lines stay in the black. With the loss of all these corporate taxes, the load has necessarily shifted to the individual state residents and especially home and land owners. But as expected, the lack of employment opportunities coupled with rising taxation have created an exodus of residents moving to other states. As the tax roles shrink, the rates for those who remain rise.
Now, pork projects can also come in a variety of public wrappers, be it education, social and state services, recreational programs, medical, police and fire department services, and other budgeted programs that serve the public. So when cuts are considered, prioritization leads to targeting those that will assumingly generate the least resistance. Enter all those outdoor-related programs where participation isn’t numbered in the urban millions and tend to be regionally upstate oriented (i.e. fewer voters). Cuts in the major programs such as education and social services are usually met with major negative reaction statewide, which means the threat of losing votes next election.
As is the case with the “infamous 13” gun control bills now in the Senate, meant to “reduce crime,”, the steps being taken in Albany to reduce the budget appear to be increasingly more sparkle than substance.