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DNR tells finance committee FY26 budget adds positions, new interagency receipts authority
Summary
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources told the House Finance Committee its FY26 governor's budget proposes nine new positions and increases in interagency receipt authority, including a new appropriation to track facilities maintenance and operations.
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday presented its proposed FY26 operating budget to the House Finance Committee, highlighting a net increase in staffing and new interagency receipt authority to track facilities maintenance and operations.
At a committee hearing, Deputy Commissioner Brent Goodrum said the most significant fund-category change is an approximately $11.2 million increase in the department's “other” funds, followed by about $3 million in unrestricted general fund (UGF) increases. He told the committee the budget proposal adds nine positions across the department.
"Please note that in the FY '24 actuals, that data includes a total of about $77,900,000 in UGF fire supplementals," Goodrum said during his overview. He also described a new interagency receipt appropriation added to state facilities maintenance and operations to "track, manage, and report facilities, utilities, repairs, and related costs across the department." The addition is intended to give the department authority to bill other state agencies for work that maintains state facilities.
Goodrum told the committee DNR operates on a diverse funding mix; he said unrestricted and designated general funds together account for about 63% of the department's operating budget and that the department counts 20 different funding sources in the FY26 proposal. The department noted it expects to continue generating substantial revenue from program receipts such as park fees, right‑of‑way leases, material sales, mining leases and recording fees.
Representative Hannan asked whether the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement payout is declining and how many more years of claims the state expects; Goodrum said he would follow up with the committee because those numbers are "based on some sort of formulas and are somewhat dynamic." Goodrum also told the committee that on a 10‑year revenue average, the department generates about $21 in revenue for every dollar appropriated to DNR.
Why it matters: the changes affect how DNR funds routine maintenance and project delivery, and the new interagency receipt authority is designed to shift some costs from UGF to program receipts that other state entities pay when they use DNR facilities or services.
The department provided a multi‑slide budget packet at the hearing and said it will supply follow‑up detail requested by several representatives, including formulas for settlement payments and the expected duration of certain receipt streams.
