ReneeG wrote:
Dennis12 wrote:
I cant believe your complaining that your not getting old enough quick enough.
This is the best posting yet, in this thread. I'm 61, turning 62 in April, 2018 and am really looking forward to it for my Senior Pass. My husband says I should not push it!!!
We FS CG camp often and that means 1/2 off, but what amazes me are the $5 campgrounds being $2.50. Yes, some can't afford much and this rate is much appreciated, as it is for us, but we can afford more. That's such a piddly amount to pay. With rates like this it must be hard for the FS to make ends meet, but then again, the majority of campers are probably not seniors. Regardless of the rate by the time I turn 62, I will be celebrating by going to the local FS office on my birthday and purchasing my Senior Parks Pass!!!
The key to discount pricing is to anticipate the discount when setting the original price. The greater the discount offered, the higher the original price must be to generate the anticipated revenue. That's how it works in the private sector.
In government, that goes out the window. All the special interests get involved and pricing becomes some sort of creation by committee. All the "help out the poor" crowd wants extremely low prices, even though a trip to most national parks cost hundreds of dollars at a minimum before even thinking about an entry fee. The entry fee is the least of the financial worries for almost all the visitors.
Then there is the "make it pay for itself" crowd, who would have the fees be astronomical at many parks since those fees could never, ever, cover the actual costs.
Another group is the "zero impact" crowd that would have the fees be so high no one would use the parks. They would get around those fees by being "special". They carve out some bogus loophole that only they can use to get the access they feel they deserve.
Then you have the "let us do anything we dang well please, if we pay enough money" bunch. They want permits to use rappel off the Washington Monument and hunt from the bleachers at Old Faithful. Want to ATV at Arlington National Cemetery, no problem, fees would make it OK.
Finally, the " it's government property, so it must be free" group speaks up.. Never mind that there are essential usage fees for many government services. They point at parks and say that it is somehow unAmerican to actually charge fees to use something. They puff up their chests and beat their drums of righteous indignation.
Eventually, a policy must be created out of these contradictory positions, so we get rates that do nothing to solve the financial issues that concern some, yet are still high enough to generate complaints from others. This allows each side to point fingers at the other side and say "because of them, these fees are ridiculous".
