house✓ Signed
Appropriates $43,217,600 to the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation for fiscal year 2019; limits the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions to 156.64; permits the department to exceed transfer limitations between programs for certain project grants; and provides reappropriation authority for the Capital Development Program.
This is the FY 2019 original appropriation bill for the Department of Parks and Recreation. It appropriates $43,217,600 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 156.64. For benefit costs, the bill removes $1,450 per eligible FTP to bring the annual employer contribution for health insurance down to $11,650 by including a two-month employee and employer premium holiday, adds a 6.8% increase for life insurance, and adjusts funding for workers' compensation in amounts that vary by agency. Funding for replacement items includes $3,941,700 for computer equipment, landscape equipment, 13 vehicles, and safety oriented park items. For statewide cost allocation, $8,600 is removed, as Attorney General fees will decrease by $5,400, fees for Legislative Audits will decrease by $1,500, risk management costs will decrease by $4,900, State Controller fees will increase by $3,300, and State Treasurer fees will decreaseby$100. Thebillalsoprovidesfundingfora3%ongoingmerit-basedsalaryincreaseforpermanent employees, to be distributed at the discretion of the agency director. The bill funds 15 line items, which provide: $175,000 to hire, on average, one additional seasonal ranger per park; $230,000 in operating expenditures to compensate for growth in park usage and associated expenses; $35,000 to address trail maintenance in northern Idaho; $100,000 to purchase a single track trail dozer for trail maintenance; $60,000 in federal funds to construct a boat equipment storage facility; 1.00 FTP and $100,600 to hire a construction foreman to address the maintenance backlog; 1.00 FTP and $85,500 for a design professional position in the Development Bureau; $3,515,000 to establish the Billingsly Creek unit of the Thousand Springs State Park which would include a feasibility study for a joint National Parks Service and Idaho Parks and Recreation visitors center, an entrance road and internal trails, an established campground, irrigation systems, an arboretum, and fis