Parks Division slow to collect concession fees

The state Parks Division was slow to collect $105,000 charged Sand Harbor visitors to maintain the performing arts stage and is still owed nearly $43,000 by concession operators there, according to auditors.

Legislative auditors said the stage was built by the concessionaire and $2 added to each ticket in 2001 and 2002 to pay for its maintenance. The concession operator collected $49,000 the first year and $56,000 the second but never sent it on to the state.

"Because the lease agreement states the title of the stage facility will remain with State Parks, the division could be facing significant repair and maintenance costs without these fees," the audit report says.

Parks officials say they have since collected the money.

In addition, the division failed to collect $22,000 due from one concession operator and $22,887 from another.

The report issued Monday also says the division has failed to bill the federal government for costs in administering the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grants program. They estimated the state can collect at least $46,000 of those costs.

The auditors also complained the division hasn't maintained accurate property and equipment records. Most serious on that list, they said, only one of the division's 81 firearms was properly reported on the division inventory records. Fortunately, auditors found all weapons could be accounted for despite the poor inventory records.

Division officials accepted all of the findings and recommendations made by auditors, saying some of them have already been resolved.