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JFAC approves $8.14 million in additions for Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved supplemental spending and program consolidations for the Department of Parks and Recreation, adding positions and capital funding and authorizing a transfer exemption for grants to capital development.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on March 11 voted to add $8,135,700 in spending authority and five full-time equivalent positions for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, moving the budget forward with a “do pass” recommendation.
Committee members approved additions that included $321,100 for park personnel, $210,000 for seasonal group positions, $195,000 for statewide operating costs, $309,100 to increase pay for targeted positions, $140,000 for an OHV-use campaign, $4,000,000 for improvements at Bear Lake State Park and $400,000 for improvements at Lake Cascade. The motion also transferred $23,035,600 from the management services program to the park operations program to consolidate those programs and added $2,263,000 for replacement items and $197,500 for OITS hardware.
The motion was offered by Senator Hart and seconded by Representative Manwaring. After discussion about a $200,000 decrease in replacement items and an explanation from the work group that retained funds could be used in future years, members voted 17 ayes, 3 nays, 0 absent, and the motion received a do-pass recommendation.
Following the vote, committee staff showed proposed bill language that would exempt the agency from standard transfer limits to allow transfers of monies from the consolidated park operations program to the capital development program for the purpose of awarding grants. Senator Hart requested unanimous consent to accept the language; with no objections, the language was accepted and will accompany the bill as it moves forward.
Janet Jessup, budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, had presented the agency overview and budget components to the committee before the vote and later explained the language on the screen that creates the transfer exemption.
The action consolidates previously separate management and park operations programs and gives the agency explicit authority, per the adopted language, to transfer funds into capital grant accounts for improvements and projects.
The committee did not identify additional limitations or amendments to the spending line items when it accepted the language on the record.
