A report released this week by the state Legislature’s PEER Committee makes it clear that the Mississippi state park system needs some fresh ideas if it is to survive.
In short, PEER said the parks need more revenue, more employees instead of a revolving door of contract workers, more property maintenance, better cash-handling procedures and a better marketing program.
Nothing works without money, and PEER said that over the last three fiscal years, the parks required annual assistance from the state in the range of $3 million to $4 million.
In a perfect world, the state park system would at least break even financially, but asking for $4 million from the state’s $6 billion general fund is not an excessive demand. Put another way, the state can afford it.
Budgeters have reduced staffing at the parks to save money and have delayed maintenance for the same reason. The money from the general fund is the cost of those cuts.
The report makes two important points regarding state park finances.
First, the parks get a big chunk of their revenue from campers. But now there are plenty of camping options in Mississippi aside from the state park system. There simply are more outdoor recreation choices today than there were 40 or 50 years ago, and customers will be picky about who gets their money. If the state is going to compete successfully for this business, it will have to elevate its efforts.
Also, Mississippi’s park system compares poorly to those in other states, which PEER said operate more locations, have larger budgets and generate more revenue. The report noted that some states have allocated taxes to parks: Alabama parks get cigarette tax money, for example, while Arkansas gets 1/8th of 1 cent in sales taxes. Mississippi should consider this, too.
Another multi-state comparison in the report shows that the number of visitors to Mississippi parks declined significantly between 2001 and 2018. The estimated annual count has been cut deeply over that period, to a little more than 1 million per year.
Louisiana’s state park attendance is only a little bit higher than Mississippi’s, while Alabama’s is about 5 million a year. Arkansas parks attract an impressive 7 million visitors annually, while Tennessee truly laps the field with 40 million visitors a year — and growing.
The good news is that PEER said there are ways to make Mississippi state parks the destination that they used to be.
Simple things like improving the state parks’ online app would give officials more data about who’s using their parks and what they’re doing. An improved app also could collect advance payment for day uses, bringing in a little more money “in a way that the current honesty box system does not accomplish.”
The state also could hire private companies to provide park services, as Florida does. Mississippi generally has only done this for its state park golf courses but could consider other contracts for recreation equipment, food services and event management. One goal should be adding things that otherwise would not be available at the parks.
The state park system got its start in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. Over the decades, Percy Quin State Park has been a tremendous driver of tourism and visitor spending in Pike County. Just as important, the park is just a beautiful outdoors area. It highlights so much of what rural Mississippi offers people who know where to look.
It would be a shame to let the state park system wither away. But it is evident that the parks need new thinking. The popularity of the Arkansas and Tennessee park systems prove that they can be run well. What’s needed in Mississippi is the willingness to make changes.
