Presenter: Jayna Burgdorf

Commission Agenda Item No. 3
Action
FY 99 Operating and Capital Budget
August 1998

I. Discussion: The Seventy-fifth Legislature appropriated $143,944,079 million in line item appropriations to the Department for fiscal year 99. Additional appropriation authority is available based on other specific rider authority. Because this agency is responsible for earning over 50% of its revenue to actually use the appropriation authority for operating and capital, the proposed budgets are based on FY 99 revenue projections. Revenue earnings were further analyzed to ensure that dedicated funds are spent for statutorily authorized purposes.

The proposed combined budget for FY 99 is $207,518,409 million of which $157,312,152 million is for operating expenses (including $20,678,576 million for payroll deductions and employee benefits) and $29,854,441 million for capital projects and $20,351,816 million for grants. The full-time equivalent (FTE) employee cap for the Department is 2,954 and the proposed budget includes 2,941.46 FTEs.

The base operating portion of this budget is funded at 95% of the FY 98 budget. This allows for reprioritization of funds to meet the changing needs of our operating environment. Areas which meet strategic priorities, commission charges and critical needs are proposed as supplementals.

The Seventy-fifth Legislature approved $60 million in revenue bond authority for critical repairs. The Department issued $12 million in FY 98. This capital budget includes the issuance of $18 million of these revenue bonds. The Texas Public Finance Authority manages the bond issuance for state agencies and the Bond Review Board approves all bond issuances requested by agencies. The debt service was appropriated by specific rider authority from General Revenue. This is the primary focus of the capital program.

II. Recommendation: The staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

"The Executive Director is authorized to expend funds to operate the Parks and Wildlife Department in accordance with the Proposed FY 99 Operating Budget (Exhibit A), the Proposed FY99 Grant Budget (Exhibit B) and the Proposed FY 99 Capital Program (Exhibit C).

"The Commission approves the issuance of up to $18,000,000 in Revenue Bonds to address infrastructure needs pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 11 of the Parks and Wildlife Code. The Executive Director is authorized and directed to proceed with the necessary steps required to issue said bonds including working with the Texas Public Finance Authority and the Bond Review Board, and the Commission approves the resolution (Exhibit D) authorizing this issue and providing for the proper notice to bond bidders."

Attachments - 4

1. Exhibit A – Proposed FY 99 Operating Budget
2. Exhibit B - Proposed FY 99 Grant Budget
3. Exhibit C - Proposed FY 99 Capital Program
4. Exhibit D - Bond Resolution
(Exhibits A-D: Available upon request)