Public Issues
Read below to learn more about the following public issues:
- Vehicle parking fee discontinued
- Cama Beach State Park
Vehicle parking fee discontinued
As the result of a new law passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in the 2006 legislative session, daytime visitors to Washington state parks will no longer be required to purchase a vehicle parking permit. The parking fee is no longer required as of April 1, the traditional spring opening day for many state parks across the state.
The $5 daily ($50 annual) Natural Investment permit is still required for use of watercraft launches and trailer dumps. Camping fees and all other fees remain in place.
The legislation to remove the vehicle parking fee came about in the 2006 Legislature, in a time when the state appears to be financially healthy. In removing the fee, the Legislature provided one-time replacement funds and left the door open for State Parks to request additional replacement funds in 2007, when lawmakers have vowed to find a secure, long-term funding source for state parks.
Background
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission began collecting the statewide day vehicle parking fee on Jan. 1, 2003. It was a year of budget cuts, following years of restricted budgets for parks. The fee was put into place to keep parks open and also to make improvements. From 2003 through 2005, State Parks collected approximately $11 million in fees. In 2003-05, much of the money was used to make improvements in parks all over the state. In the 2005-07 budget, lawmakers shifted the fee revenues into the agency's basic operations budget so that the money was no longer available specifically for improvements.
The fee: A daily vehicle parking fee of $5 bought the visitor a permit good for parking and/or use of watercraft launches and trailer dumps in all state parks. A $50 annual Natural Investment permit provided unlimited parking and watercraft launch use for a year. Visitors who biked in, walked in or who rode public transportation to parks did not pay a fee. Permits were available at no charge to qualified veterans, low-income individuals and people with disabilities. Volunteers who donated 20 hours to a specific park received an annual permit for that park, and volunteers who donated 40 hours received an annual permit for use in all state parks.
History of the fee: The Commission began evaluating day-use fees in the early 1980s, when severe budget constrictions began a noticeable decline in the services and condition of state parks. Since then, numerous reductions in the park system and its services occurred, and state budgets required a significant increase in park-collected revenues to support the park system budget.
By about 2000, Washington remained one of only a dozen states in the nation that had not adopted a fee for daytime visitors. In a 2000 Washington State University survey, a significant majority of citizens said they would support a day parking fee in Washington state parks. Commission decisions to generate revenue with a fee were partly as a result of a general expectation and direction by lawmakers for State Parks to "act more like a business."
Why did the Commission adopt the fee? The fee was adopted to avoid park closures and to improve parks. In 2003-05 the state was facing a $3 billion shortfall in its budget. Over the years, maintenance in parks had been deferred and public services reduced in order to cover the ever-increasing costs of operations within constricted budgets. The Commission, aware of the state’s budget crunch and the deteriorating park system, determined that it was reasonable to charge the new fee to people who visit parks for the day.
Some realities of the fee: The Commission anticipated that the fee would result in an immediate attendance decrease, following other states’ reports of 30 to 40 percent attendance decreases as the result of collecting day fees. Officials from other states reported a three- to five-year attendance recovery. In Washington, the attendance decline in 2001 compared to 2004 was 16 percent. In 2001, the last full year before any vehicle parking fee was collected, estimated statewide day attendance was 45.4 million, compared with 38.1 million in 2004, the last full year of available attendance estimates. Some parks reported dramatic attendance decreases, while more than 30 of the 120 parks reported higher attendance in 2004 compared with 2001. Other state park systems reported a noticeable decline in vandalism and errant behavior in parks after initiating a day fee; Washington park managers reported the same experience.
How the fee money was used: The money was used to keep parks open, to modify parks to facilitate collection and work on the maintenance backlog. It also was used to employ staff to educate the public, collect the fee and improve parks and services.
In 2003-05, fee revenue was used to pay for:
- Staff for fee education, collection, custodial and maintenance work and other visitor services.
- Modifying park facilities to help fee collection and addressing the maintenance backlog with park improvements.
In 2005-07, fee revenue was used to pay for:
- Staff to continue fee education, collection, custodial and maintenance work and other visitor services.
- General operating expenses in the park system.
The Commission and Legislature originally intended the revenue to keep parks open and to improve parks. A budget policy change in 2005-07 required State Parks to shift use of the fee money from park improvements to basic operations to backfill the loss of general tax dollars. It was no longer available for the maintenance backlog and improvements as in the 2003-05 budget.
From January 1, 2003, through December 2005, total parking fee revenues totaled approximately $11.5 million. Estimated cost for collection during that same period was approximately $3 million. The Commission’s research with other parks agencies prior to the fee showed that collection costs could be as much as 50 percent of the revenue collected.
Outcomes from the fee: All parks were kept open, hundreds of improvements (maintenance backlog) were made and custodial services were improved. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission understands concerns about the vehicle parking fee but believes that the fee revenues have improved parks, benefiting the citizens of Washington. Revenue continues to grow in the larger parks. Staff support provided in parks for collection activities has resulted in a greater level of visitor contact and better understanding and compliance with the fee, more visitor programs, cleaner facilities, less vandalism and fewer visitor behavior issues in parks.
Within a year of the fee, rangers from parks all over the state were reporting projects and improvements as a result of the fee revenues and new staffing provided for collection – everything from renewed picnic shelters and comfort stations, cabin and interpretive center improvements, new bulletin boards for visitor information, irrigation systems, shower stalls, new trees, signs and play structures. The result was parks that are more attractive and welcoming.
What's next? The Legislature, in redacting the fee, provided some one-time replacement funds for the lost fee revenue and left the door open for State Parks to request additional replacement funds in 2007. The Commission is committed to working with the Legislature and Governor to find a long-term, ample and stable funding source for state parks. Lawmakers vowed in the 2006 session to revisit the state parks funding issue to find such a long-term source in the 2007 session.
Updated 3-22-06
Cama Beach State Park
Cama Beach State Park is a special place. It is special to native tribes, for its use as a shellfish gathering and processing site over 2,000 to 3,000 years. It is special to the family that built and ran a resort there starting in the 1930s, then in 1994 donated much of the property to become a state park. It is special to neighbors, boaters and other visitors, who enjoy its beauty and accessibility to Puget Sound.
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission believes this special place can be made even more special and meaningful for all, by developing Cama Beach State Park into a place where all these stories can be told.
The Commission respects and honors the important history of Native American use of the site at Cama Beach and is committed to continued work with the tribes, asking for their participation in telling the Native American story in the park.
In 2002, the Commission and the Tulalip tribe worked together and finalized a settlement agreement that laid out how archaeology would be conducted and construction would take place at the site. The Commission has followed that agreement in working at the site. Recognizing the importance of the cultural resources and to minimize impact upon those resources at Cama Beach, the Commission has made several proposed changes in development plans at the park:
- Raised at least 50 percent of utilities (electricity, water, sewer, phone) above current ground surface level to reduce intrusion into sensitive areas.
- Removed the large dining hall and dormitory building from the sensitive area, with plans to relocate the structures to an upper plateau.
- Provide required water and sewer line separation horizontally rather than vertically, in order to minimize trench depth and allow utilities into waterfront cabins.
- Eliminated development in the north end of beach area and will remove three of the five bungalows now there.
- State Parks will secure and protect known human remains where they are found unless all affected tribes agree and advise State Parks on a different treatment. Originally planned and permitted archaeology will be completed; no other excavation will occur without consultation with the tribes.
- Include the tribes in development and programming of interpretive venues and activities to tell the Native American history at Cama Beach State Park.
The Swinomish Tribe and the Upper Skagit Tribe have informed the Commission that they have completed spiritual ceremonies on the site, with respect to discoveries from the archaeology work. They have asked that ground-disturbing investigation be limited only to areas directly affected by future construction.
Recently, the Tulalip Tribe has asked that the Commission do additional archaeological investigation at Cama Beach State Park and to do no additional construction at the park until the Tulalip Tribe is satisfied that all archaeological questions have been resolved.
The Commission has considered the Tulalip request for further archaeology work and has concluded that the Tulalip proposal is not aligned with the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission’s Cultural Resource Policy, which is in keeping with the U.S. Secretary of Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, specifically, "The methods and techniques chosen for archaeological documentation should be the most effective, least destructive, most efficient and economical means of obtaining the needed information . . . non-destructive techniques should be used whenever appropriate."
The Tulalip Tribe also has asked the Commission not to communicate with other tribes because Tulalip members believe they are sole successor to the land at Cama Beach. However, the Commission does not believe it is appropriate for State Parks to take a position on the longstanding issue of which tribe may have sole or rightful succession. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is committed to promoting healthy, enduring relationships with the Tulalip and other tribes.
Background on Cama Beach
Cama Beach State Park is situated on the west side of Camano Island and includes a mile of saltwater, Puget Sound shoreline, woodlands, a wetland area, beach access, trails and a picnic area. Washington State Parks is working to rehabilitate old cabins and other buildings that were part of a former resort on the site, to add modern environmental retreat facilities and interpretation of past natural and cultural resources and to provide a day-use area.
The Center for Wooden Boats, headquartered in Seattle, has informed the Commission of its intention to work as a partner with State Parks, occupying five of the site’s original buildings to offer programs on boat construction.
The site of present-day Cama Beach State Park has been used as a shellfish gathering and processing site for 2,000 to 3,000 years. The site became a resort in the 1930s, and Lee and Muriel Risk ran it as a working resort until 1989. The Risk daughters, Karen Hamalainen and Sandra Worthington, took over the property in 1990, and in 1994, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission began acquiring land there through a combination donation and sale by the families. State Parks then began plans to develop the property, with the goal of opening in 2006.
The Cama Beach project has a total estimated cost of $39 million for all land acquisition and construction. Approximately $12.5 million has been donated by the families. State funds for land acquisition total $6.7 million, and total construction is expected to cost approximately $19.8 million. Funding sources include state capital funds, grants from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program administered by the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation and the donation from the families.
Updated 1/06
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