Greenwire: Arizona’s Fort Verde Historic State Park will close next month, even though estimates indicate that it will cost taxpayers about $46,000 more to shutter it than it would cost to keep the park open for another year.
The State Parks Board last month decided to close 13 of Arizona’s less profitable parks to help mitigate a budget shortfall. Lawmakers have cut parks funding by 61 percent since July. By June, the state will have closed more of its parks than any other state in the nation.
Closing the 13 parks will cost about $1.4 million, compared with about $3.6 million to keep them open for a year.
Still, parks officials say the funds that would keep the parks open come from a different pot of money by law. Dollars that would be spent on the closings may be used only for capital projects, not operating expenses, so they could not be directed to help keep the parks open, they say.
Plus, the closures will bring operating expenses down, which will help keep the remaining parks open.
“Our problem is our operating budget,” said Renee Bahl, parks director. “We don’t have the operating budget to keep these parks open in the future.”
Some of the closures are expected to begin Monday, when the state fences off the Homolovi Ruins and Lyman Lake state parks.
Still, park officials have not given up. A proposed agreement with Camp Verde to take over control of Fort Verde is “very promising,” for example, said Bahl. The Parks Board is also lobbying for legislation that would shore up funds by asking voters to pay a $9 surcharge on vehicle registrations to help fund state parks. The bill, which has garnered bipartisan support, is scheduled for a House committee hearing on Monday (Casey Newton, Arizona Republic, Feb 18). – DFM