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Fish and Game warns of unrestricted-fund shortfall; OHRV online sales and transfers to DNCR draw scrutiny
Summary
Officials from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department told House Finance Division II that the agency’s unrestricted fund balance is projected to shrink sharply under the governor’s proposed budget and that an upcoming switch to online OHRV registration, existing statutory transfers to DNCR and constraints on dedicated accounts complicate the agency’s financial outlook.
Stephanie Simic, director of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, and Kathy LaBonte, the agency's chief of business operations, briefed the House Finance Committee Division II about the department's revenues, dedicated accounts and the governor's budget proposal.
“Your starting point is the governor's recommended budget,” Fiscal said, and LaBonte walked the committee through restricted (dedicated) and unrestricted revenue sources. The agency reported 16 dedicated accounts and 13 pots of unrestricted revenue. LaBonte said license revenue makes up roughly 35% of the department's unrestricted revenues; other sources include OHRV/marine road-toll receipts, federal grant indirect-cost recoveries (about $0.9–1.0M per year), and miscellaneous income.
LaBonte presented a 17-year Fish and Game Fund balance history showing a low point around FY2015 and an unaudited beginning balance of about $13.2 million at the end of FY24. Using the governor's recommended budget figures without additional general-fund infusions, the department's projections show the unrestricted Fish and Game Fund falling into a deficit by the end of the biennium; the governor's budget balances the department using anticipated lapses and a fiscal transfer of $397,000 that fiscal had approved after the governor's budget was prepared.
Committee members pressed the agency on several revenue and program items. Lawmakers asked about the upcoming change to OHRV (off-highway recreational vehicle) registration: Fish and Game said it plans an online registration implementation in September, which will require upfront fulfillment and postage costs for mailed decals. The agency said the statutory revenue flows for OHRV registrations require that about 70–72% of gross registration revenue be transferred to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) for trail-maintenance grants and similar programs; agents retain a statutory per-transaction fee (currently $5 for OHRV registrations) and the department expects to retain an increased portion of the transaction fee under the new online model (about $4 of the $5, per the department's contract with its online vendor) to help offset internal costs.
Fish and Game described several dedicated accounts (for example, a Fisheries Habitat account funded by a $1 fisheries habitat fee and a Wildlife Habitat fee that has remained $2.50 for many years) and said that while some dedicated accounts show unobligated balances on paper, program staff hold lists of prioritized projects and contracts that will obligate those balances. LaBonte said the department does not budget on lapses and highlighted that many accounts are restricted by statute and cannot be freely reallocated.
On law-enforcement funding, the department said general-fund support has been provided in prior years (accounting unit 7887) and that the governor's budget removes that general-fund appropriation; department leaders said that removal could limit the ability to fill five vacant conservation-officer positions the agency currently needs and could increase overtime and worker-safety risks if staffing remains thin. Simic also said the administration’s trailer-bill proposal would move the agency's environmental-review program to the Department of Environmental Services; she expressed concern about losing program staff entirely and asked that at least one or two positions be retained in the agency to maintain expertise.
Hatcheries and facility maintenance also drew questions: Fish and Game called hatchery infrastructure “critically underfunded” and said past deferred maintenance has created a backlog; the department said it had $4–4.5 million in current capital appropriations after an earlier biennial round and expects to continue capital requests.
The agency agreed to provide the committee with a more detailed breakdown of license and registration fees (including agent and transfer shares), a report of the total cost of search-and-rescue activities (including indirect and embedded costs), and a list of dedicated and unrestricted revenue lines with current balances and the agency's planned obligations.
Ending: Fish and Game closed by noting the budget-reduction pressures and statutory constraints on dedicated funds; the committee requested more detailed fee breakdowns, a search-and-rescue cost accounting, and options for addressing unrestricted-fund shortfalls.
