Cash Cache Probe

"Under Major General Jackson's leadership, I am confident the stewardship of California's beaches, forests, estuaries, dunes and wetlands is in good hands, and that the confidence, and trust of Californians in our parks department will be restored.""?u Gov. Jerry Brown on his Nov. 13, 2012 appointment of retired Marine Maj. Gen. Anthony Jackson to head the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

Update: Re Calif. Parks & Rec's $54-million Secret Surplus
In July 2012 the existence of $54-million in secret California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) funds came to light after the Sacramento Bee reported on the unauthorized selling back to the state of unused vacation time by DPR employees www.landscapearchitect.com/research/article/16834. The director of California DPR, Ruth Coleman, resigned July 20, 2012, and chief deputy director Michael Harris was fired the same day.

Now, seven long months after those events unfolded, the California Legislature announced plans to hold a joint oversight hearing set for Feb. 20 to scrutinize the goings on at DPR.

Fodder for the hearings is California auditor Elaine Howle's Feb. 14, 2013 report www.bsa.ca.gov on DPR's oversight and management of the state park system and budgeting practices. The report is titled: "Weak Procedures Have Led to Inconsistent Budgetary Reporting and Difficulties in Measuring the Impact of Efforts to Keep Parks Open."

The report's key findings:
"Over the last 20 years the department consistently underreported the fund balance amounts for its parks fund to finance for use in the governor's budget when compared to the fund balances reported to the State Controller for its annual budgetary report.

"The magnitude of these differences was substantial"?uthe understatements reported to Finance averaged more than $22 million per year over the past 12 years ending with a $20.4 million understatement reported in fiscal year 2010–11.

"Former high-level management of the department directed the current budget officer"?uwho, like prior budget staff, noticed the differences in reporting when she first started working at the department"?uto continue underreporting the fund balance for the parks fund to Finance.

"Similarly, over the last 20 years the department has almost always reported fund balances to Finance for its off-highway vehicle fund that differed from the balances reported to the State Controller. These differences ranged from a $35 million overstatement in fiscal year 2005–06 to the most recent $33.5 million understatement reported in fiscal year 2010–11.

"A main contributor to the fiscal year 2010–11 fund balance understatement occurred when Finance, in preparing the January 2012 Governor's Budget, reduced transfer amounts to the off-highway vehicle fund by nearly $55 million based on proposed legislation."

The report's key recommendation:
""?(R)?ensure that it [DPR] reports consistent amounts to Finance and the State Controller, determine the amount necessary to fully operate its 278 parks at the 2010 level to ensure that it can adhere to a recent statutory requirement when contemplating reducing services or closing parks to achieve any required budget reductions in the future, and develop individual park operating costs and update these costs periodically."