Fiscal Highlights - June 2014
This Is The Place Heritage Park -
Ivan D. Djambov (![]() This Is The Place Heritage Park was established in 1957, and it was managed by the Division of Parks and Recreation until 1998. In an effort to generate more private funding, the park operation was then transferred to This Is The Place Foundation, a non-profit corporation, which continues to manage the park today. The park was to be funded by private donations, park revenues, and an ongoing appropriation of $800,000 from the General Fund. However, the foundation went through serious financial problems, which led to requesting additional state funds, and resulted in restructuring its leadership in 2006. Under the new leadership, the park saw some immediate changes, including an increase in revenue, visitors, volunteers, the number of open buildings, and expansion of the season. In the last few years, however, likely impacted by the economic slowdown, the growth in revenues, visitation, and volunteers has tapered off, and even experienced a decline. Revenues The park has organized its revenue sources in three major categories: Public Funding, Private Giving, and Earned Revenue. The total revenues to the park peaked in FY 2009. The main reason for the increase in FY 2014 is $1 million payment from the Hogle Zoo for building a parking lot on the park's property for zoo visitors, which is reflected in the Earned Revenue category. The Public Funding category for FY 2014 includes $800,000 from the General Fund, $40,000 from the ZAP (Zoos, Arts, and Parks) Tax, and $50,000 from Salt Lake City. The Private Giving category includes donations from organizations, such as the Eccles Foundation and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Earned Revenue category includes revenues from admissions, building rentals, food, gifts, and membership sales, and has been increasing every year since FY 2010. The main reasons for this increase are higher revenues from building rentals and retail sales in recent years. Visitors The number of visitors to the park drastically increased between 2008 and 2010, peaking at 255,100 (see red line in the chart above). Since then, the visitor number has fallen to below 200,000 in FY 2014. Park management attributes this decline in visitors in the last years to fewer free events at the park and to increased competition from new exhibits at the Hogle Zoo, the Museum of Natural History, and the Point of the Mountain. Volunteer Hours Due to the high interest from historic and religious groups, the park has enjoyed the unique opportunity to attract many volunteers. The volunteer labor translates into significant savings in personnel costs for the park. The hours of volunteer service increased from 10,670 in FY 2006 to 32,351 per year in FY 2010. But the number of volunteer hours have been declining since FY 2010. |
![]() A New Era Begins At USTAR - Zackery N. King On May 21, 2014, during Extraordinary Session #6, the Senate confirmed Governor Herbert's appointme...Autism Pilot in the Department of Health: Past and Future - Russell T. Frandsen After two years of two pilot programs providing autism services, the Department of Health received ...Capital Improvement Funding - Mark Bleazard The Legislature annually appropriates funds to the capital improvements line item in the capital bu...Drug Courts - Stephen C. Jardine Total FY 2015 state funding for drug courts is $4,972,900. Drug court funding is distributed by a m...FY 2015 Custom Fit Allocations - Angela J. Oh The Custom Fit program administered by the Utah College of Applied Technology (UCAT) supports econo...Getting Closer on PED Property Tax Estimates - Thomas E. Young Every year leading up to the General Session staff presents you with public education estimates tha...Leasing of SAGE Online Adaptive Test Questions - Ben Leishman The State of Florida has requested to use Utah's SAGE (Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence)...PEHP Autism Treatment Pilot - Brian D. Fay In the 2012 General Session, the Legislature passed H.B. 272, Pilot Program for Autism Spectrum Dis...Pew Findings - Utah Prison Cost Drivers - Gary R. Syphus In February of 2014, state leaders requested that the Pew Charitable Trusts' Public Safety Performa...Revenue Surplus Anticipated - Andrea Wilko Consensus estimates indicate that General Fund/Education Fund collections will end FY 2014 between ...This Is The Place Heritage Park - Ivan D. Djambov This Is The Place Heritage Park was established in 1957, and it was managed by the Division of Park...USHE Joins Multi-State Collaboration to Improve Education - Spencer C. Pratt The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) is joining 12 other higher education systems from across...What is the Judicial Conduct Commission and Where Can I Find Its Budget? - Gary K. Ricks The Judicial Conduct Commission is established by the State Constitution, Article VIII, Section 13.... |
Reports/Archive | Budget Process | Office Background | Who's Who | Organization Chart
Office of the Legislative
Fiscal Analyst
House Building, Suite W310
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
Phone (801) 538-1034 Fax (801) 538-1692