Amendment #516 to H4100

EOEAA/DCR Department of Conservation and Recreation Retained Revenue II

Mr. Scaccia of Boston moves to amend the bill in section 2, by striking out line 2810-2041 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:

"2810-2041     For the department of conservation and recreation, which may expend not more than $14,127,027 from revenue collected by the department, including, but not limited to, revenues collected from: (1) campsite reservation transactions from the automated campground reservation and registration program; (2) permits, leases, concessions, and all other contracts; (3) the operation and maintenance of the department's telecommunications system from revenues received from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, the division of highways, the Central Artery/Ted Williams Tunnel Project, the department of state police and quasi-public and private entities through a system of user fees and other charges established by the commissioner of conservation and recreation; provided, that nothing in this item shall impair or diminish the rights of access and utilization of all current users of the system under agreements previously entered into; and provided further, that this item may be reimbursed by political subdivisions of the commonwealth and private entities for direct and indirect costs expended by the division to maintain the telecommunications system; (4) skating rink fees and rentals; provided, that when assigning time for the use of its rinks, the department shall give priority to general public skating, and then to those which qualify under applicable state and federal law as nonprofit organizations or as a public school; (5) the operation and maintenance of the Ponkapoag golf course; provided, that the division of state parks and recreation may expend not less than $1,098,011 from revenue collected from fees generated by the golf course; (6) the operation and maintenance of the Leo J. Martin golf course; provided, that the division of state parks and recreation may expend not less than $824,790 from revenue collected from fees generated by the golf course; (7) activities authorized pursuant to section 34B of chapter 92 of the General Laws; provided, that the department may retain and deposit 80 per cent of the aforementioned fees; provided that the first $4,750,000 of such fees collected by the department shall be deposited into the General Fund; provided further, that for the purpose of accommodating timing discrepancies between the receipt of retained revenues and related expenditures, the division may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify for payment amounts not to exceed the lower of this authorization or the most recent revenue estimate, as reported in the state accounting system; provided further, that no expenditures made in advance of the receipts shall be permitted to exceed 75 per cent of the amount of revenues projected by the first quarterly statement required by section 1B; provided further, that the comptroller shall notify the house and senate committees on ways and means at the time subsequent quarterly statements are published of the variance between actual and projected receipts in each such quarter and the implications of that variance for expenditures made; provided further, that the division may issue grants to public and nonpublic entities from this item; provided further, that the department may use the aforementioned revenues for the operation and expenses of the department; and provided further, that the department shall continue to review revenue collection processes to maximize revenue generation under current laws and regulations..........................14,127,027”