More Arizonans likely to travel for Labor Day weekend than in ’09

[Source: Emily Gersema, azcentral.com]

More Arizonans than last year are expected to travel this holiday weekend, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport hopes to cash in on those who fly by offering a parking discount.

Even though fuel prices are slightly higher this year compared with last year, AAA Arizona predicts that 665,541 residents will drive 50 miles or more this Labor Day weekend, nearly 12 percent more people traveling by car than last year.

The company also projects that 40,561 people will fly this holiday – a nearly 6 percent increase from last year.

Michelle Donati of AAA Arizona said travelers will fly or drive an average of 845 miles round-trip – a longer trip than the national average of 635 miles.

And most travelers fleeing the state for the weekend are either going solo or in pairs, based on the IHS Global Insight survey for AAA Arizona.

Few Arizona travelers compared with those in other states turn Labor Day weekend into a family vacation.

“It’s not really average for this area, mostly because school has already started in Arizona,” Donati said.

Students in other states often begin school at the start of September, allowing families to plan their vacations late in the summer break.

Lake Havasu. Photo Credit: Arizona State Parks

But Arizona families who do travel are encouraged to consider a weekend at one of the 23 state parks, said Ellen Bilbrey, a spokeswoman for the Arizona State Parks.

Campsites near rivers or lakes will fill up quickly this weekend. At Lake Havasu, about 500 boats a day may launch, she said.

She said campers who begin their holiday early will nab the best spots. By Thursday, the $50-a-night cabins at Lyman Lake in eastern Arizona will have been booked, and dozens of campers will have pitched tents in campsites near Flagstaff, Payson and Prescott. Despite the projected increase in travelers this year, the AAA Arizona survey results indicate the economy’s health is a looming concern.

Arizonans are on a tighter budget than travelers from other states. AAA Arizona expects they’ll spend about $348 per trip, about 50 percent less than the national average of $697.

Phoenix Sky Harbor is offering a deal on parking to appeal to price-conscious travelers.

A parking coupon that travelers can download and print from the skyharbor.com website ensures motorists who park at the airport during their holiday can come back and get a 40 percent discount on the $25 daily parking rate, lowering the cost to $15.

Republic reporter Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this article.

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Viewpoint: Arizona Legislature raids legacy of dead woman

[Source: Arizona Republic editorial board] — Stealing a dead woman’s legacy — that’s how far the Legislature has gone in its raid on funding for Arizona State Parks.  Our parks system has taken a wildly disproportionate hit in state budget-balancing efforts.  It has been years since the state itself put any money into the parks.  Now, lawmakers are draining virtually every other source of revenue.

Including $250,000 bequeathed by Asta Forrest, a Danish immigrant and Fountain Hills resident.  She gave the money with no strings attached (big mistake, as it turns out), just because she loved Arizona State Parks.  Forrest must have seen how state parks offer the best of Arizona for entertainment and education.  From Lake Havasu to Kartchner Caverns to Picacho Peak to the Tombstone Courthouse, there are places for boating, hiking, fishing, birding, swimming, sightseeing, and exploring.  In a tourism-oriented state, these are economic assets as well as part of our quality of life.

Yet in December, lawmakers siphoned so much out of state-park accounts, including money from entrance fees, that the very existence of the system is at stake.  That $8.6 million raid filled just a speck of this year’s $1.5 billion state budget hole.  On Jan. 15, the State Parks Board will weigh what parks to close — with the risk of going into a death spiral of falling entrance fees that force more and more closures.  It’s time to consider a task force’s proposal to fund parks with an optional $15 vehicle-registration surcharge.

In this crisis, every state agency must endure painful cuts.  But not gutting.  [Note: To read the full editorial online, visit Viewpoint: Arizona Legislature raids legacy of dead woman.]

Which Arizona state parks will close?

Horse's patootie (read the article and you'll understand)

[Source: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services/Arizona Daily Star] — The decision by lawmakers last month to take funds from the parks system means some will be closed later this year, the director of the agency said Thursday.  The only question that remains, Renee Bahl said, is which ones.  Bahl said the system, which already gets no direct taxpayer dollars, is being crippled because of the legislative action to take away a chunk of the funds they get from other sources.  That includes not only the fees paid by those who go to the parks but also special funds raised, such as assessments on registration of boats and off-road vehicles.  The bottom line, she said, is that her agency will have $7.5 million to spend rather than the $19 million it had planned for the fiscal year that began last July 1.

Bahl said she will make specific recommendations to the board on which parks to close in two weeks.  But she outlined the criteria her staff will use — criteria that are likely to be bad news for the smallest and least-used of the parks.  One of the most important, she said, is which make money or, at the very least, don’t lose a lot.  Bahl said that makes the most sense, as the cash from those parks might eventually be enough to reopen one or more of those shut down.

Topping the list of money producers is Kartchner Caverns, near Benson, followed by Slide Rock and Lake Havasu state parks.  Catalina State Park, north of Tucson, brings in about $193,000 more a year than it costs to operate.  But the parks system also is populated with sites that bleed red ink.  Topping that list is Tonto Natural Bridge near Payson, where costs exceed revenues by $541,000.  Red Rock State Park at Sedona operates on a $190,000-a-year loss, with six-digit deficits at Tubac Presidio, Picacho Peak, Homolovi Ruins, and the Riordan Mansion in Flagstaff.

Bahl said, though, that the board will have to consider other factors when deciding which parks should be shut down.  “There are one-time costs like fencing, or if we needed to add a security system to a building or board something up,” she said.  “And we’re still going to need to keep an eye on it after that, checking it both for fire hazards and seeing if there’s any trespassing.”

Several board members, given the news, lashed out at lawmakers for taking the funds, even after being told at hearings last month that it will mean shutting parks.  “We have people in the Legislature who don’t believe state parks should exist,” Tracey Westerhausen complained.  She said the best thing that those who want the parks system could do is go out this year and elect different people.

Board Chairman Reese Woodling said the parks bring in more in tax dollars from visitors to communities than the cost. He said that message seems lost on lawmakers.  But board member Arlan Colton said it’s not that they don’t understand.  He said that, facing a multibillion-dollar deficit, “I don’t really think they give a horse’s patootie” about the effect of taking a couple of million dollars from the parks system.

Woodling said he and Bahl spoke with Gov. Jan Brewer earlier this week.  He said the governor, who signed the legislation authorizing taking the money, was sympathetic but offered no answers.  “I’m just sick to my stomach,” he said.  Brewer had no choice but to approve raiding the funds, said her spokesman, Paul Senseman.  “The Legislature has been unable to muster enough support for a deficit-reduction plan,” he said.

But Senseman said Brewer is unwilling, at least at this point, to endorse the recommendation of a task force she formed to create a “sustainable” park system: put an optional $15 surcharge on the registration fees for all vehicles in this state.  The fees would raise enough to keep the system operating, with motorists who paid the extra cash getting free admission all year to every state park.  “The governor believes it ought to be discussed in a very serious fashion,” Senseman said of the recommendation.  [Note: To read the full article, visit Which Arizona state parks will close?]

Arizona State Parks makes it official: No SLIF grants

[Source: Arizona State Parks announced late Monday that grant applications made this year for $6.5 million in State Lake Improvement Fund monies — including four from Lake Havasu City — have been cancelled because the agency must release SLIF monies to the state’s general fund.  “We had no choice but to cancel these grants as the funds were swept from the accounts by the Legislature,” Bill Scalzo, chair of the Arizona State Parks Board, said in a press release.

SLIF revenues are generated by a portion of state gas taxes attributed to watercraft use and by watercraft licensing taxes.  The funds are supposed to go to water-based recreation facilities, such as launch ramps, bathrooms and campgrounds, lake improvements and law enforcement.  State Parks also relies on SLIF monies for its capital improvements.  “Now the parks are facing many crises as the historic structures and the infrastructures at the parks are deteriorating and we can’t make any improvements,” Scalzo said.

State Parks received 12 applications for SLIF grants this spring.  Seven came from cities in Mohave and La Paz counties.  Among the monies sought by Lake Havasu City were $195,000 for two police patrol boats, $365,000 to dredge the entrance of Bridgewater Channel and $408,342 for a fireboat, lift and dock for the Windsor Beach area.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]