Whats wrong with California State Parks
In todays Los Angeles Times there was a column regarding the results of a study of what is wrong with the CA St. Pks. The gist of the study is that there are no facilities for the young family and th...
Forum Discussion
Just spent a few moments checking the internet for hard numbers. Here is what I found:
California state parks system is ~1.6 million acres, with over a third of the total size from one park -- Anza Borrego Desert state park at 586,000 acres.
A few years back the state parks director was screaming for more money, threatening to close parks. State auditors examined the State Parks books and found $70 million squirreled away in secret funds and accounting gimmicks. After that the closure threats diminished.
Total current budget, from the state parks website, is $676 million. The same website states that at $243 per acre the CA state parks system ranks about the middle (24th) in cost/acre compared to all 50 states. Now, I am not an accountant nor a government budget analyst. But when I divide the budget by the acres I get $422.50 per acre. Quite a discrepancy.
This funny accounting could explain a lot about California's chronic fiscal problems.
I did not spend any time checking other state's state parks number. I invite other readers to research their own state parks and post back here with their cost per acre. Do the actual math yourself, do not use the cooked press release numbers. Divide the total parks budget by the total acres.
Then we can compare apples to apples.
California state parks system is ~1.6 million acres, with over a third of the total size from one park -- Anza Borrego Desert state park at 586,000 acres.
A few years back the state parks director was screaming for more money, threatening to close parks. State auditors examined the State Parks books and found $70 million squirreled away in secret funds and accounting gimmicks. After that the closure threats diminished.
Total current budget, from the state parks website, is $676 million. The same website states that at $243 per acre the CA state parks system ranks about the middle (24th) in cost/acre compared to all 50 states. Now, I am not an accountant nor a government budget analyst. But when I divide the budget by the acres I get $422.50 per acre. Quite a discrepancy.
This funny accounting could explain a lot about California's chronic fiscal problems.
I did not spend any time checking other state's state parks number. I invite other readers to research their own state parks and post back here with their cost per acre. Do the actual math yourself, do not use the cooked press release numbers. Divide the total parks budget by the total acres.
Then we can compare apples to apples.
