Mortimer Brewster wrote:
soren wrote:
CharlesinGA wrote:
I agree it is a ripoff. Will probably stay at Spearfish City Campground and rent a car to get around. Will still have to pay the park entrance fees or buy the annual pass. arrgh!!!
Charles
Yes, because clearly, as an out of state resident, you have a God given right to enjoy one of the greatest state parks in the nation, while contributing zero towards the massive burden of maintaining and improving it. Let the citizens of South Dakota pay for it, even it the vast majority of users are from out of state, or from another country. After all, it's all about you. I feel your pain.
Tourists added $2.5 BILLION to the South Dakota economy in 2016. If the parks is short on money the state has some responsibility to use an adequate amount of the taxes generated for upkeep.
No one is forcing you to go there.
Who is claiming that there is a shortage of funds? As for taxes, the state does not collect income taxes, and the overall population of the state is smaller than most larger, or even medium sized, cities in this country. The state collects a small tax on tourism related spending which generates a fairly low amount statewide, amounting to 11 million in 2015. Asking users to pay is completely fair, and hardly expensive at $20 for a weekly pass, or $30 for a yearly pass to all state parks. It doesn't matter if it's Yellowstone, or Custer SP, asking the taxpayers of a lightly populated rural state to foot the bill for hundreds of thousands to millions of out of state, or foreign visitors is wrong. Most of us have RVs that take hundreds of dollars, or more in fuel to go any significant distance. We dropped hundreds in camping fees, and other expenses in a week of travel, yet some want to whine when one of the greatest state parks in the country has a modest entry fee. Seriously?
