Lawmaker Pitches Park Privatization
02.09.2010 by Whittney Evans
(KCPW News) Republican State Senator Chris Buttars is asking legislators to consider privatizing state parks to save money. Speaking yesterday at the Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, Buttars said there are a lot of good parks in Utah, but many of them lose money.
“Their budget’s $35 million a year. I think if you put out an OFP to places like KOA campgrounds, you’d have people come forth that would love to lease those parks, free up that $35 million which would be ongoing funding, lease the ground, which would be additional income and have those parks working better than they’re working now,” he said.
But committee members questioned whether or not private owners would, in fact, be able to do that.
Mary Tullius, director of the Division of State Parks and Recreation, doesn’t think so. She says the state prides itself on giving Utah families affordable destinations like state parks. And if those destinations were made private, the quality would suffer.
“History has told us that whenever you privatize something people are so focused on making money that they don’t pay attention to the infrastructure or to the maintenance of the facility. What happens after five years and they’ve run something and they haven’t taken care of it and they turn back to the state? And then the state has a much bigger problem,” she said.
No motions were made on the proposal, but legislators plan to re-examine it at a later date.
4 Responses
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Ken
February 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
“History has told us that whenever you privatize something people are so focused on making money that they don’t pay attention to the infrastructure or to the maintenance of the facility. What happens after five years and they’ve run something and they haven’t taken care of it and they turn back to the state? And then the state has a much bigger problem,” she said.
Surely Ms. Tullius should be able to provide examples off the cuff, if she is so certain of her history.
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Rob
February 20th, 2010 at 8:38 am
Please, private companies manage state parks all over the country and actually turn a profit rather than losing 35 mil. a year like the Utah govt.
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ed
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:43 am
I have seen what happens to parks run by the government……They lose money, employees fight about every little thing…..equipment is not maintained..etc. Private companies have a stake in what they are doing……believe me the gov has a hard time running anything……In order to install a electic circuit the gov has to have an envoriment impact study, go out and get bids from 3 differnet contractors, they go through their purchaseing department then have it shipped to the office, then picked up by the installer then …..depending upon the weather….get the circuit installed……..That circuit now cost 500 to 1000 dollars…….when I could have stopped at the hardware store on my way to intall the item….got the parts for 12 dollars, installed it and gone home….all in about an hour……
That is just a sample.
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Postcards from a Looter | The Unbroken Window February 23rd, 2010 at 2:11 am
[...] is a perfect illustration of how government officials think: Mary Tullius, director of the Division of State Parks and Recreation, doesn’t think so. She [...]