Starting to look that way.
Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources is suggesting state park fees be raised from $3 to $5. In this time of increasingly confiscatory tax rates, why not siphon off another few greenbacks!
Fresh Political Pickins From The Peach State
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Uh…would you rather they be free, or low-cost (subsidized by the public) so they don’t pay for themselves? No, that would reek of socialism…hmmm…socialism like police forces, fire departments, health services, schools…maybe higher fees as costs rise fits with your free-market ideas until something comes along that you’d rather be subsidized…I mean, socialized?
Ga. needs a “park closure commission”
That would be “Park Realignment and Closure Commission”
On the other hand, nobody is making anyone go to a State Park. These are “user fees” not taxes. Don’t want to pay? Don’t go. What’s so hard about that?
Rogue,
User fees for state parks is a good idea. Most of our state parks ar in good shape & the user fees have been a revenue source to make improvements & adequate maint.
Hey Ramblinwreck, the parks weren’t bought with user fees.
benjy, they should have been. But, we are where we are. Would you rather they close completely? They should stand on their own and if it takes user fees I’m for it. We regularly use the park close to us and many, if not most, of the people who go there aren’t even from Georgia. If $2 a person turns them away then I guess the parks should just close.
Rw, I would prefer that the demand for recreation be serviced by the private sector. I agree with you though, “we are where we are”. I would just add that I believe that we should at least try to “reposition”.
Go Fish.
We’re a family full of veteran campers, and I can’t say anything critical about the Georgia State Park System. They are some of the absolute best in the U.S., and I think $5 for a day pass is a gift! You can take as many folks as you can squeeze into a van, or whatever, and spend the whole day hiking, fishing, swimming, picnicking, etc.–this would be a bargain at ten times the price. We buy the yearly pass and get our money’s worth hands down. With the yearly pass you get free entry into any state park, a discount on camping and a couple of free passes to the SAM line. It’s a great deal, and we gave three memberships as gifts this past Christmas to family members!
Please, no privatization on this one! I don’t think these are meant to be “revenue” producers. They belong to the people of Georgia and should remain that way.
Go out and enjoy one of these treasures. You’ll be mightily impressed!
We are pretty lucky to have a fine state park system, despite the fact that the Gold Done, under Democrat and Republican rule, have never properly funded capital improvements for the system, or even basic maintenance needs.
Critics like Ramblinwreck can talk smack all they want. The cold hard truth is that the Georgia State park system is one of the last vestiges of what makes Georgia…Georgia. The history of these parks, the history in these parks, the history of how each park originated is the history of our state.
You can drive through pretty much any city in this state and see strip mall after strip mall, chain restaurant and big box store after chain restaurant and big box store, etc.
Amicalola Falls, the Etowah Indian Mounds, Tallulah Gorge, Fort McAllister, Roosevelt’s Little White House, the Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site, etc. are part of the vital fabric of this state. We have a fantastic state park system despite the Gold Dome ignoring it.
And as soon as the private sector services all demand for parks bengy, you’ll probably advocate for only private libraries, schools and roads, and private servicing of demand for air and water.
“I can’t say anything critical about the Georgia State Park System. They are some of the absolute best in the U.S., and I think $5 for a day pass is a gift!”
10000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Hey Dave, That sounds good to me.
But back to “user fees”… what is the point? Isn’t a user fee just a feeble attempt to make those who benefit from a socialized service pay their “fair share”? If the government is really interested in charging a “fair price” for something, then why not allow the only system that is able to make a “fair” price calculation do its work? And If we have user fees for parks, then why not user fees for everything else the government touches? And if we have user fees for everthing else the government touches, then why socialize any of the services to begin with?
I can see maybe an increse to $4 but why a $2 jump? How much did Georgia bring in last year from these fees? I think a $2 increase is asking a little more than should be. And no one is saying it’s better to close park instead of increase. That’s sarcasism
The state should just sell all parks to local governments. If the citizens of local governments don’t want to pay for the parks, let the state sell them to the highest bidder. As good as Georgia’s Parks Department might be, local governments and / or private entities will always do a better job.
While we are going at it, the Federal Government should start selling off all their land, 10% of the country.
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