January 24, 2014

REP. MUSHINSKY REVIEWS FUNDING STUDY FOR STATE PARKS
Finds changes needed to improve state parks

State Representative Mary Mushinsky, House Chair of the Programs Review and Investigations Committee (PRI), found several areas that need attention after reviewing a comprehensive study that focused on whether funding for state parks and forests is adequate to support short and long term operational needs.

The extensive report includes information on resource trends, including expenditures (operational and capital), revenue, and staffing. In order to assess the adequacy of the funding, the study examined three measures of park use: attendance, safety, and customer satisfaction.

Rep. Mushinsky said, “Our state is privileged with a diversity of parks and forests. The parks have now reached their 100th anniversary.  We have an obligation to ensure their solvency and protect them as a valuable treasure for the next 100 years.”

All the committee staff recommendations in the report are intended to provide a solid foundation for achieving a state park system funding mechanism that is better balanced with system needs, operations and planning efforts that are more performance oriented.

“The study found that our parks lack structured attention to performance-based measures that would collect important data to help analyze current needs,” Mushinsky said. “Because of budget cuts and lack of staffing support, our parks may not be performing at their ideal capacity. We are trying to find ways to help with this situation and bring them to their full potential.”

Recommendations include:

• A Results Based Accountability (RBA) approach, including development of an RBA report card, as a streamlined way for the division to increase its performance-based analysis

• A review by the Parks Division on the use and level of fees for each park location not less than once every five years as part of an overall park review

• Tracking the use of season and lifetime passes by pass type when parks are otherwise charging for parking or admissions

• The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Parks Division to fully coordinate with Friends of Parks groups and other parks associations to ensure in-kind labor and financial resources provided by such groups are taken into consideration for budget and planning purposes

• The DEEP to fully develop and submit the necessary reports required under C.G.S. Sec. 23-15b(c), and ensure each report is available on the department’s website for state parks in accordance with the statutory timeframes

“I commend the PRI staff for this thorough study which presents a very good assessment of overall conditions at our parks and what we need to do to improve operations in a time of tight budgets. I believe they have given us a very good roadmap to move forward,” Mushinsky noted.

State Rep. Mary Mushinsky is Co-Chair of the legislature's Program Review and Investigations Committee, and a member of the Environment and the Finance, Revenue and Bonding committees.