ODNR director requests access to oil-and-gas bonus funds, seeks fee changes and monitoring staff in biennial budget

Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, presented the agency’s biennial operating request in a committee hearing on Oct. 12, 2025, outlining funding needs across parks, wildlife, water resources, forestry, oil and gas, and natural areas. Mertz said most ODNR operations are supported by non‑GRF revenue and that the agency’s total biennial request is roughly $696.3 million for fiscal 2026 and $730.3 million for fiscal 2027; the General Revenue Fund portion is about $156 million in 2026 and $175.9 million in 2027.

Mertz asked the committee to allow ODNR to access one-time bonus payments from recent oil-and-gas leases. She said roughly $40 million remains in that account and requested authority to use $20 million in each year of the biennium for capital improvements, law enforcement equipment, payroll increases tied to a recent bargaining agreement, and fleet replacement. She said those expenditures would not increase GRF spending but would draw from the one‑time bonus funds currently held in an account.

On user fees, Mertz proposed indexing watercraft registration fees to the consumer price index beginning in 2027; Ohio currently registers about 650,000 watercraft. She also said the Division of Wildlife is requesting authority to increase…