Stung by deep budget cuts and its fifth round of layoffs, the state division in charge of Georgia’s parks, recreation and historic sites has begun a top-to-bottom review so it can make the parks system rely as little as possible on state funding within three years.
The “Direction 2015” initiative is as much about offering more to park users as it is a shift in how the state parks system operates. If successful, it will likely put the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Parks, Recreation and Historic Sites Division on the leading edge as parks systems nationwide continue to reel from the recession and continued cuts.
Success could hit Georgians’ wallets a little more, though how much won’t be clear until next year.
Begun quietly last year, the first palpable changes will be experienced by park users beginning in spring as individual parks expand programs, start to tackle a backlog of maintenance and likely increase some user fees.
The division includes 64 parks and historic sites, seven golf courses and five lodges. Managers at every site have already submitted business plans.
Some parks aren’t waiting to improve how they do things.
At Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, Park Manager Phil Delestrez got on board with the initiative early. He more than doubled the number of paddleboats available this year for rent on the park reservoir (there are nine paddleboats now) and raised the rental rate from $3 to $4 per person, finding happily that they’re already one of the park’s “best sellers.”
Delestrez also brought in new kayaks and has begun to boost programming, with offerings such as Friday’s $5-per-person “full moon” hike to the park’s Civil War-era textile mill that lies in ruins along a hiking trail.
A critical eye also was cast toward gift shop merchandise. “For years, we’ve kind of had the same stuff” for sale, Delestrez said. “Then we saw the error of our ways.”
As for the fees, he said, “no one’s really complaining. We try to keep the prices affordable yet bring in a little extra revenue. And we don’t charge for everything.”
For park visitor Ken Caird, who was hiking Friday with his family, the park represented “cheap entertainment” on a beautiful afternoon, the fall leaves bursting in reds and yellows around him. He noted the park’s current $5 parking fee was still much less than the cost of going to the movies.
And if the park increased the fee? he was asked. Caird smiled and said, “It’s worth it.”
Specifics of what each site will do under “Direction 2015” are expected to be finalized by January and then phased into action. The goal is for the division to be 75 percent self-sustaining, so it relies on the state for only 25 percent of its operating expenses.
It comes after the division over the past five years lost 46 percent of its state funding. The division is but one example. As a whole, Georgia’s budget is $2 billion less than what it was before the Great Recession.
“The basic premise is to try and come up with a strategy we can communicate to anyone who will listen that [the division] is going to be more proactive and reach a level of sustainability by 2015,” said Paul Nelson, the division’s assistant director. In turn, Nelson said, the division hopes to keep intact its remaining state support.
Georgia at the moment provides $13 million of the division’s $56 million operating budget. The loss of dollars has cost the division in jobs, staff morale, activities for the public and customer satisfaction. Between 2009 and this year, its total number of salaried and hourly employees decreased from 1,282 to 899 filled positions, or a reduction of 30 percent.
Employees such as restaurant servers, front desk clerks and housekeepers who used to be full-timers have had their hours cut and lost benefits. The cuts also have caused a $125 million backlog in maintenance such as peeling paint, leaking roofs and building foundation repairs.
Park users have noticed. Between 2009 and 2010, user satisfaction ratings declined from 85 percent to 70 percent, based on the deteriorating condition of the facilities.
“The future of the system is on the line,” said Andy Fleming, executive director of the Cartersville-based Friends of Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites. The advocacy group helps organize volunteers and paid for a consulting firm to help the division with the initiative, not least because members were alarmed at what they saw.
In the short term, park managers are likely to try to increase activities aimed at specific groups, such as retirees, families and youth service organizations such as the Girl Scouts. Additional fees are being considered for some general facilities such as picnic areas. The increased revenue would then be reinvested into staff and maintenance.
Long-term investments are also planned. At the popular lodge and conference center at Unicoi State Park in North Georgia, for example, the state Department of Natural Resources has already budgeted $4.1 million toward a $7.9 million renovation.
Most states are experiencing serious budget issues, and state parks are among the most affected, said Philip K. McKnelly, executive director of the National Association of State Park Directors. Still, McKnelly said there has never been a national survey on the elasticity of park fees, so it will be hard to know when solutions such as fee increases become too much.
“You’ve got a bit of a conundrum — in some ways, this is the worst time to be raising fees and charging more [because] this is a time when people need to get out and get relief,” McKnelly said. Still, given a reliance by many parks systems on state lawmakers for money, “I think everybody is looking hard at what [Georgia] is doing.”
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