With Christmas and a new year rapidly approaching, What could be a better present to all New Yorkers than a balanced budget that not only keep taxes and fees from increasing –or at the least, stable? As our Division of Budget and Albany leaders keep hacking away on state agencies’ budgets and personnel, it is and will be the residents of and visitors to New York who will feel the impacts the most. And one of areas this will probably be most evident will be in the quality of our deteriorated natural resources and activities related to them.
As has been documented in this column in the past, the majority of the money annually required to keep the various natural resources programs within the NYSDEC operating comes from the Conservation Fund, an account fed primarily by sporting licenses, permits and sales taxes on gear purchased by recreationists such as anglers, hunters and trappers. And since these funds are required by state law to be used for specific purposes relating to fish, wildlife and habitat, the federal government partially matches these via the Pittman-Robertson and Dingall-Johnson Acts. Only a small amount of state funding to run DEC programs comes from the General Fund, which is the great “slush fund” Albany dips into to feed non-DEC program budget needs.
With a major recession gripping the nation’s economy, New York’s financial woes, spawned by years of overspending and over-taxing that drove business elsewhere, the state’s financial crisis has reached critical mass, in the form of potentially a one billion dollar state budget shortfall and a poor credit rating to borrow more money. In other words, that great “slush fund” has dried up. And just as many cash-strapped New York families have had to do, the State ishaving to make budget sacrifices to realistically avoid bankruptcy.
However, while most families would prioritize their budgeting from the top down, based on real needs, the State’s priority views seem to be far different, starting at the bottom and working up. That the DEC was apparently at or near the bottom of this priority list, it has been the one experiencing the most cuts and losses. Even the appointed DEC commissioner noted this and was fired for his candid observation.
The irony of what’s occurring is that the vast majority of the DEC cuts have done next to nothing to reduce the state deficit since the money to run these operations comes primarily from the Conservation Fund and not the General Fund, the latter being the one deep in red ink.
And if unhappy sportsmen and women and general outdoor recreationists quit participating and purchasing licenses or generating sales taxes from buying related sporting gear, where would the money come from to manage our natural resources and protect the environment? It would have to be the General Fund.
I wonder if anyone in Albany’s upper legislative and bureaucratic crust (most of whom are from “downstate”) actually grasp the importance of the many projects and programs that fall under the DEC responsibility umbrella? And do they care that dismantling the DEC may result in drastic decreases in license sales that would also put the Conservation Fund in the red, while increasing those that must then come from the General Fund. Which would mean the state would have to get that extra money from the general public and business – via increased taxes and fees.
Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has reportedly indicated he might move DEC under the authority of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Places.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to make the DEC a truly separate and focused conservation department, much like the DNRs in other states, and totally funded by the dedicated Conservation Fund, which realistically could be more than sufficient to run the various fish, wildlife and other natural resources programs now included in the current oversized and overextended one known as the NYSDEC? Then both licensed sportsmen and all state taxpayers would know where their money was going and for what. That would certainly be a wonderful Christmas present to all.
In the meantime, Happy Holidays from our family to yours. And don’t forget Rogers Center Winter Living Celebration Sunday. Unfortunately, it might be the last one if things don’t change.