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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: August 5, 1998 2:04 pm Contact: National Parks and Conservation Association Jerome Uher 202-223-6722, ext. 122 |
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Latest News Releases
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House Panel Defends Corporate Subsidies in Parks; NPCA Says 'Reform' Package Retains Giveaway for Concessioners | ||
| WASHINGTON - Agust 5 - Legislation to spur private competition for
services in national parks would require the federal government to continue to provide
companies with perpetually compounding real estate subsidies that cost taxpayers hundreds
of millions of dollars, according to the nation's leading national parks advocacy group. The National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA) says a "reform" measure approved today by the House Resources Committee would lock in a unique incentive that pays companies their cost plus annual interest for capital improvements to lodges, gift shops, cafeterias and other concessions facilities in national parks. "It's a wasteful practice that exists no place else among federal agencies and is virtually unknown among state and private concessions contracts," said William Chandler, NPCA vice president for conservation policy. "This provision is a unforgivable waste of tax money to line the pockets of large corporations." The committee today approved the Vision 2020 National Parks Restoration Act (S.1693), which contains a section of concessions reform measures. The panel, however, rejected an amendment by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) that would have ended the practice of paying private businesses inflated sums for building improvements. The Miller amendment would have given existing concessioners 39 years over which to amortize the subsidies they have accrued under current law. For new construction, the concessioner's cost would be subject to straight line depreciation over the same period of time. Any time a concessions contract turns over, the outgoing concessioner would be paid the unamortized remainder of the value in the building. This amortization policy is standard practice in private industry. The bill as passed by the committee would continue the subsidy requirement for both existing contracts and new ones by mandating payment of a "leaseholder surrender interest" for all capital improvements. This leaseholder surrender interest increases in value each year at the rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which has averaged 3.5 percent over the past 10 years. The bill would also take away the ability of the National Park Service (NPS) to negotiate contracts more favorable to NPS and the taxpayer, like those currently in effect at Yellowstone, Yosemite and Golden Gate national parks. The National Park Service is currently obligated to pay an estimated $500 million in capital expenditure subsidies, most of which is owed to about two dozen companies. Under the bill, this debt would continue to appreciate at the CPI annual rate. "The goal of concessions reform is to promote competition for contracts in the parks, which will lead to better service at a lower cost to the taxpayer and the park visitor," Chandler said. "This bill will prevent competition by saddling new concessioners with unjustifiable payments to outgoing companies. At a time when the parks are begging for funds to repair park facilities and protect historic and natural resources, the House has decided to funnel millions to private concessioners on top of the handsome profits they earn from their operations." Concessioners grossed a total of $714 million in all national parks in 1997, but paid only 6.8 percent of that income back to NPS. In contrast, state parks on average receive a 10-15 percent return on their concessions contracts. ---------------- The National Parks and Conservation Association is America's only private nonprofit
citizen organization dedicated solely to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the U.S.
National Park system. An association of "Citizens Protecting America's Parks,"
NPCA was founded in 1919 and today has nearly 400,000 members. A library of national park
information, including fact sheets, congressional testimony, position statements, press
releases and media alerts, can be found on NPCA's World Wide Web site at
http://www.npca.org. -0- |
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