Idaho Parks asks JFAC to consolidate programs, raise seasonal pay and replace Hebron docks

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee heard a budget and policy briefing from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation on Thursday, where the agency requested program consolidation, targeted pay increases and capital outlay for park infrastructure.

Janet Jessup, budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, opened the presentation and said the department administers Idaho's 30 state parks and trail systems and is currently allocated 190.8 FTP for fiscal year 2024. She told the committee that the governor's recommendation "included all the agency's request in full."

Susan Buxton, director of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, told the committee the agency is asking to merge its management services and park operations programs into a single budgeted program to reduce administrative complexity. Buxton described the consolidation as a "ministerial request" intended to make it "a lot easier for us to manage across the system" and said the change "does net to 0."

Buxton and staff also discussed requests to address pay compression and recruitment. The agency seeks to raise seasonal wages from $12 an hour toward $15 an hour and to implement a tiered ranger compensation program to address compression among long‑tenured managers and new hires. "Most almost 95% of our staff are STEM educated," Buxton said, arguing that market and retention pressures have made targeted adjustments necessary. The department said it hires about 300 seasonal employees annually and works with more than 500 volunteers.

Committee members pressed for detail on the seasonal pay math and market differences across locations. Jennifer Quindell Miller, the agency's human resources officer, said managers can currently hire seasonals between $12 and $15, but that the agency expects to need to "push that pay range" higher in some resort or remote locations. Buxton added that in some areas the agency is seeing market rates of $17 to $18 an hour.

Officials highlighted several capital requests that the governor recommended in full, including improvements at Bear Lake (Fish Haven) and Lake Cascade. Buxton described planned work at Hebron State Park on Lake Coeur d'Alene, saying the site "was supposed to be a national park, but it became a state park in 1909," and that two aging marinas at Rocky Point and "Chocolat" will be replaced. Buxton said the Coeur d'Alene tribe previously provided design funding and had indicated financial support; she said the tribe had offered "at least a million dollars" toward the marina replacements.

Committee members also questioned a proposed purchase of a compact wheel loader. Troy Elmore, operations administrator for the department, said the loader is paid from the snowmobile sticker fund, that the department owns groomers and that counties operate equipment in about 27 county programs statewide. He said the purchase would help clear parking areas that support snowmobile grooming and that it would be the third piece of that equipment purchased for the groomer/parking program.

Jessup and Buxton repeatedly noted the agency's use of a mix of dedicated and federal funds and the constraints those fund sources place on expenditure timing. Jessup said capital outlay is a one‑time program with no FTP; in 2024 about 41% of the department's expenditures were capital outlay and trustee and benefit payments comprised about 17.5% of expenditures.

Buxton offered to provide additional project lists and deferred‑maintenance details to the committee; Co‑Chair Harmon and other members requested the documents by email. The committee did not take formal action.

Buxton closed by thanking the committee for its consideration and support. "Thank you very much for all of your work," she said.