[1]NOTE: As
provided in LFC policy, this report is intended for use by the standing
finance committees of the legislature. The Legislative Finance
Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information
in this report when used in any other situation.
Only the most recent FIR
version, excluding attachments, is available on the Intranet. Previously issued FIRs and attachments may
be obtained from the LFC office in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building
North.
|
SPONSOR: |
Stewart |
DATE TYPED: |
01/28/02 |
HB |
6/aHGUAC |
||
|
SHORT TITLE: |
Department of Game & Fish Appropriations
Act |
SB |
|
||||
|
|
ANALYST: |
Valenzuela |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
|
FY02 |
FY03 |
FY02 |
FY03 |
|
|
|
|
$225.0 |
|
|
Recurring |
General Fund |
|
|
$8,383.8 |
|
|
Recurring |
Federal Funds |
|
|
$19,714.0 |
|
|
Recurring |
Game Protection Fund |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates
Appropriation in The General Appropriation Act Section 4 for Department of
Game
and Fish
§
Report of the Legislative Finance
Committee to the Forty-fifth Legislature, Second
Session, January 2002
for Fiscal Year 2002-2003, pp 369 - 380.
§
Department of Game and Fish
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of HGUAC Amendment
The House
Government and Urban Affairs Committee amendment to House Bill 6 adjusts the
federal funds recommendation down and adjusts the other revenue upward to
reflect a more conservative projection of federal funding. This amendment is
revenue neutral resulting in no change in total budget. The second amendment
increases the budget by $70.6 and 1.0 FTE to be paid for by the Game Protection
Fund for a staff attorney. The
appropriation table above reflects the changes due to the amendment.
House Bill 6/aHGUAC - - Page 2
Synopsis
of Original Bill
House Bill 6 appropriates $28,252.2 from the
general fund, game protection fund and federal funds to the Department of Game
and Fish (DGF) for its FY03 operating budget. The bill reflects the Legislative
Finance Committee (LFC) budget recommendation for the department.
This is the first year for DGF to be involved in
performance-based budgeting.
Significant Issues
The DGF FY02 operating budget
includes a nonrecurring $1.3 million for capital improvements. Excluding the
nonrecurring amount, the base budget request reflects a 6.1 percent increase
over FY02. The LFC recommends a 1.3
percent increase in the base budget. With the recommended base expansions, the
total recommendation is 1.7 percent over the current operating budget, less
nonrecurring items. The recommendation
also increases staff positions by 3 FTE.
This bill appropriates $28, 252.5 for the FY03 operating budget: $225.0 in general fund, $9,632.6 in federal funds and $18,394.6 from the game protection fund. The following information is relevant to a discussion of this bill.
Revenues
and License Sales.
The table below presents number of licenses sold and associated revenue for the
license year beginning April 1. Revenue
per resident license sold dropped slightly from $12.02 in 1999 to $11.90 in
2000 but increased from $25.51 to $26.70 for nonresidents over the same period.
Overall, revenue was down by $260.0 or 3 percent. The decrease resulted
generally from weakness in fishing licenses sales. Two factors that contributed
to the decrease were drought conditions, which reduced the water levels in
lakes and streams, and the extensive fires throughout New Mexicos wilderness
areas.
|
|
DGF Licenses Sold |
DGF License Revenues |
||
|
|
1999 |
2000 |
1999 |
2000 |
|
Total Resident |
434,726 |
419,953 |
5,227,433 |
4,999,821 |
|
Total Nonresident |
135,107 |
127,912 |
3,447,142 |
3,415,099 |
|
Total |
569,833 |
547,865 |
8,674,575 |
8,414,920 |
Cash Balances of Game
Protection Fund.
Despite a slight drop in revenues, the game protection fund continues to show a
healthy cash balance. As of July 2001, the cash balance was $1.8 million higher
than the same month a year ago, although a variety of obligations against the
fund could drop the cash to a substantially lower amount. If the state acquires
Eagle Nest Lake, $5 million of game protection funds will be used toward the
purchase price. Yet, after paying these obligations and keeping a 15 percent
reserve level, the fund would continue to show close to $11 million. The
unobligated cash balance represents an opportunity for the department to fund a
higher portion of the Eagle
Nest Lake acquisition or pursue more habitat improvement projects on acreage
its manages throughout the state.
|
Game Protection Fund |
FY00 Actuals |
FY01 Actuals |
FY02 Estimated |
|
Beginning cash balance |
$
20,456,706 |
$
22,896,746 |
$
20,583,348 |
|
Revenues |
27,285,254 |
25,238,845 |
25,705,171 |
|
Expenditures |
(20,313,104) |
(22,104,075) |
(22,017,100) |
|
Other items impacting cash |
(3,032,110) |
(2,448,168) |
(3,621,000) |
|
Ad |
|
|
|
|
Cash restrictions and obligations |
(1,500,000) |
(3,000,000) |
(3,750,000) |
|
Cash reserve requirement |
|
|
(6,000,000) |
|
Unobligated cash |
$ 22,896,746 |
$
20,583,348 |
$
10,900,419 |
The information below is
excerpted from the LFC budget document.
The departments transition
to performance-based budgeting will improve its transparency to the general
public. The original organizational structure consolidated the majority of the
operations under the game protection fund, while separating out activities that
had minimal funding, such as the Share with Wildlife and Endangered Species
programs. The new program structure closely links similar activities together.
The four programs are the Sport Hunting and Fishing Program, the Conservation
Services Program, the Wildlife Depredation and Nuisance Abatement Program, and
Program Support. One of the LFCs concerns is that the department has not
created a Law Enforcement or Public Safety program. The department chose not to
adopt this committee recommendation because the Department of Finance and
Administration had recommended fewer programs.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) has developed a good performance model that could prove
applicable for the department goals. The model is particularly strong for
habitat improvement, which is a weak area for the DGF. The purpose statement
for the Conservation Services Program is not aligned with its statutory
mission, which is the management, enhancement, research and conservation of
public wildlife habitat. In fact as written, the purpose statement places the
responsibility of habitat improvement on stakeholders rather than the department.
The impact of misaligned strategy is evident in the performance measures. The
measures address output of the program activities, such as number of habitat
projects completed in partnership with stakeholders or the number of consultations
provided to stakeholders. Though good measures, none provides an assessment of
how much habitat has been improved through direct or indirect involvement from
the department. The table below provides further examples of measures that
could be more meaningful for the department.
Program
|
Example Measures |
|
Sport Hunting and Fishing |
§
A measure matching fish and wildlife management to sport hunting
and fishing demand. §
Number of hunting accidents. §
A measure identifying the cost of fish propagation. § Number of fish stocked in XX acres of waters. |
|
Conservation Services |
§
Number of wetlands acres enhanced to XX percent over historical
baseline. §
Number of miles where riparian or stream areas have been enhanced
by XX percent over historical baseline. § A measure detailing the effectiveness in mitigating or preventing damage to fish and wildlife populations by invasive species. |
|
Wildlife Depredation and Nuisance Abatement |
§
Property value loss due to wildlife depredation (in acres, crop assessment,
and livestock). §
Ratio of property value loss to cost of remediation efforts. § Number of depredation and nuisance complaints. |
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The information below is excerpted from the
LFC budget document and relevant to this bill.
Big Game Depredation
Fund.
Enactment of Senate Bill 758 in 2001 authorized the department to begin
collecting an additional license fee of $5 for residents and $10 for
nonresidents. The department estimates new revenue of $500.0 in FY02 and will
use the funding to complete three proposed projects. The three projects -- one in Reserve the area, one in the
northwest and one in the northeast -- will address the most problematic cases
in the state. For its FY03 request, the
department requested the same amount. The committee supports full funding of
this request.
UU-BAR Ranch Road
Closure and Litigation. A state court has under advisement the matter of State
of New Mexico and State Game Commission v. UUBar Limited Partnership, et al.
This trial involves a quiet title action filed by the Attorney General to
reclaim the state's interest in a 2.6 mile road in Colfax County outside of
Raton. The ranch has closed the road to
public access. The road was once a part of the Old Santa Fe Trail and was once
state highway 21/199 but the State Highway Commission deeded it to the State
Game Commission. It is the only
northern access to state trust lands in the White's Peak area. The ranch argued that when the State Game Commission
failed to maintain the road, it relinquished its right to the access, and thus,
the company nullified its agreement to allow public access. Though the case has
yet to be decided, the policy implications are serious because this is the
first time litigation has resulted from a ranching company shutting off access
to a public road that runs through ranch land or state land leased by a private
entity.
Chronic Wasting Disease. This summer, chronic
wasting disease was discovered on game ranches in Colorado. The incurable
disease, similar to mad cow disease, afflicts elk and deer. Eradication of
diseased animals is the only recommended solution to prevent the spread of the
disease. Unfortunately, the only manner to determine if an animal has the
disease is to sample
tissue from the brain
stem, which requires that the animal be killed. A gaming ranch in southwestern
New Mexico purchased and transported to the state 15 elk from a ranch in
Colorado that had infected animals. According to the agency, the transport met
all department regulations and was based on a clean health certificate. The
department learned that the Colorado ranch tested positive for the disease
shortly after the transport. As a result, DGF banned imports of elk from those
states where the disease has been found. It also reimbursed the New Mexico
rancher $37.5 for the 15 elk it had to eradicate. The department argues the elk
industry in New Mexico generates an estimated $30 million a year, making the
purchase of the diseased elk a sound investment. Hunters, who provide
considerable revenue to the game protection fund, however, have argued that
ranches that propagate game should shoulder the entire level of risk. According
to the agency, the issue highlighted a weakness in its statute, which is silent
on the issue of paying producers for eliminating a portion of their herd for
the protection of wildlife and, potentially, public health. The department may
seek legislation to outline its response in these cases.
Acquisition of Eagle
Nest Lake.
During the 2000 legislative session, $4 million was appropriated from the game
protection fund for the lease and purchase of Eagle Nest Lake. The legislation also authorized the
department to pursue acquisition on behalf of the state. The following year,
the Legislature appropriated $17 million to complete the purchase; however, the
governor vetoed the entire capital appropriations bill, which included the
funding for Eagle Nest Lake. Originally, the state had an eight-year option to
purchase the lake, whereby the CS Cattle Company would lease the lake to the
state during that period of time. However, a recent agreement signed by the
State Game Commission deleted the eight-year option and extended the lease only
until March 31, 2002. Consequently, if funding is not appropriated in the 2002
legislative session, the lease will expire.
New Headquarters
Building for Game and Fish Department. The department recently moved into its
new headquarters building located in Santa Fe just off of NM 599. Cost of
construction of $6,925.0 was paid with $2 million in severance tax bond
proceeds, $1,500.0 from the game protection fund, $1,500.0 game and fish bond
interest and retirement fund, and $1 million from federal funds. The
Legislature appropriated the remaining $925.0 for the computer network and infrastructure
from the game protection fund. The
original building plans were modified to substitute modular panel systems for
hard wall offices. According to the
department, this modification did not greatly decrease initial construction
costs, but provided flexibility in the configuration of the interior of the
building.
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