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View Full Version : 13 GA state parks could close



Grandma
08-22-2008, 10:21
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories//2008/08/22/budget_parks.html

13 Georgia state parks could close next year, and 200 employees could be affected by budget cuts. This is the worst case scenario, from what I gather.

Rain Man
08-22-2008, 14:00
Thank you, Sonny Perdue.

Rain Man

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Mark57
08-22-2008, 14:47
Oh it goes much much deaper than that. I am a state employee and my dept is being outsourced. Good ole' Sonny has ordered that the states IT be outsourced. It will cost 3 times as much and most of the jobs from the winning vendor will not even stay in the state.:mad:
I am one, who after 32 years, will have to retire early. I have 2 years left for full pension but that wont happen. I will lose 30% of my pension.
The state is projected to be 1.6 Billion dollars in the red for fiscal year 09. Theres no way to recover in the short term.
Y'all get ready cause taxes are about to go up!:mad::mad:

There is nothing good to come from the states outsourcing or shutting down various state facilities.

Phreak
08-22-2008, 14:57
Grrrrrrr!!!

bloodmountainman
08-22-2008, 17:09
Thank you, Sonny Perdue.

Rain Man

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We also have a State Legislator, who over the years, has not been known for fiscal responsibility. In politics @#%! goes uphill.

Mrs Baggins
08-22-2008, 18:33
We were at Magnolia Springs State Park GA last Sunday to do some day hiking. We were the ONLY people there and we drove from SC. How exactly is a park supposed to stay open if no one shows up? Money falling from the sky?? Everyone loves to moan "keep them open" but very few of those people ever show up in a park. They expect "someone else" to do it. Up the entrance fees and they'll scream "it's hurting the poor!" - who, to listen to the poor, don't have the gas money to be going there anyway. We saw exactly 3 employees in the park (one taking the fees, one in the information building, and one driving around in a golf cart) and one of those said "no one shows up this time of year." Then maybe the answer is to shut it down during the low season.

Grandma
08-22-2008, 19:44
I have an idea to help with state revenue. Allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday, and allow real gambling. Georgia is one of the few states that don't allow alcohol sales in stores. You don't have to raise income taxes to bring in more money, just give us more opportunities to spend money and pay sales taxes. As far as gambling goes, we'll have a lottery in GA, but no real gambling. Oh yeah, that's right, the lottery is for our schools. What a joke.

Bulldawg
08-22-2008, 19:51
We were at Magnolia Springs State Park GA last Sunday to do some day hiking. We were the ONLY people there and we drove from SC. How exactly is a park supposed to stay open if no one shows up? Money falling from the sky?? Everyone loves to moan "keep them open" but very few of those people ever show up in a park. They expect "someone else" to do it. Up the entrance fees and they'll scream "it's hurting the poor!" - who, to listen to the poor, don't have the gas money to be going there anyway. We saw exactly 3 employees in the park (one taking the fees, one in the information building, and one driving around in a golf cart) and one of those said "no one shows up this time of year." Then maybe the answer is to shut it down during the low season.

And I am sure those will be the very type of parks affected. They won't be closing down the popular ones like Vogel or Hartwell. The ones with very little visitors will be the ones cut and/or closed. IMO it is OK for the government to tighten it's belts a little during this time of lackluster spending (i.e. tax revenue). All of us have done it. I'd rather they cut back than go into debt. That's how we do it at our house.

Pedaling Fool
08-22-2008, 19:54
We also have a State Legislator, who over the years, has not been known for fiscal responsibility. In politics @#%! goes uphill.
That's usually where the problem is, they are the ones that really control the purse, much more so than a governor. Governor's are not blameless, but most people don't look at the whole problem - too much work, so they just blame one person in a high-viz position.

valleyfire
08-23-2008, 11:43
What the hell is GA doing?

Mark57
08-25-2008, 10:22
What the hell is GA doing?

The same thing most other states are doing. Loosing our asses in projected tax revenue thats not coming in.
And as far as a bad senator or legislator here and there, while that may be true, the governor like a CEO, is responsible for the state.
Our Governor, in my opinion, does have too much power for one man. He only ordered the outsourceing of the states IT. No legialative consent was required.

JumpInTheLake
09-09-2008, 22:15
Then maybe the answer is to shut it down during the low season.

Why not use the honor system? Let people put their money in the cash receptacles. It works at campgrounds in Tennessee.

If you don't need the employees get rid of them, but don't close the parks.

Sharkey
09-10-2008, 01:17
We were at Magnolia Springs State Park GA last Sunday to do some day hiking. We were the ONLY people there and we drove from SC. How exactly is a park supposed to stay open if no one shows up? Money falling from the sky?? Everyone loves to moan "keep them open" but very few of those people ever show up in a park. They expect "someone else" to do it. Up the entrance fees and they'll scream "it's hurting the poor!" - who, to listen to the poor, don't have the gas money to be going there anyway. We saw exactly 3 employees in the park (one taking the fees, one in the information building, and one driving around in a golf cart) and one of those said "no one shows up this time of year." Then maybe the answer is to shut it down during the low season.


I live near Magnolia Springs and I visit there regularly. Summer the place is usually packed, especially on weekends ( like most parks). In the off season attendance does get low and I wondered how it was able to stay open. Then I was surprised when I was told by park employees how regularly the cabins are all booked up for most of the year and how often the camping spots are taken. After being told this I did notice how frequently I saw visitors at the cabins. It is odd that the one employee told you no one shows up this time of year when I was told differently. (I'm not doubting your report.) I do believe the fish hatchery across the bridge doesn't get many visitors. They are adding two more cabins right now near the rear of the park. One would think if they were thinking of closing the park they wouldn't have started building to new cabins. I hope they are able to keep the park open. It's a nice quiet place. Good running trails but most importantly a nice place to visit. If they close anything down, maybe it will just be the fish hatchery. Kind of sad for me since I worked at each site over a few summers.

Gaiter
09-10-2008, 01:41
no comment w/o getting political....

well i will say this 2010!!!

take-a-knee
09-10-2008, 09:29
I have an idea to help with state revenue. Allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday, and allow real gambling. Georgia is one of the few states that don't allow alcohol sales in stores. You don't have to raise income taxes to bring in more money, just give us more opportunities to spend money and pay sales taxes. As far as gambling goes, we'll have a lottery in GA, but no real gambling. Oh yeah, that's right, the lottery is for our schools. What a joke.

The average Georgian, like the average American, is cash-strapped and carries more consumer debt than ever before. Providing more opportunity to go deeper into debt won't grow the economy, and it certainly won't fix the average person's personal finances. Inflation adjusted wages haven't gone up in the US since the Carter administration in the 70's. Americans save one percent of their wages currently. If you think getting drunk one more day each week or letting the mob build casinos in GA will fix any of that I hope you aren't in charge of much beside yourself.