Unwarranted Cost Increase at Florida Springs

[SuPrBuGmAn]

mat, you're my new best friend & i'll be calling you for 'off-the-beaten-path' assistance!

LOL, no problem

 

[Peter_C]

How about the practice of the state park system over the last 15+ years of not charging annual pass holders an additional fee for diving?

Be happy you got 15+ years of no fees. Today expect to see more fees. Be happy the parks are open. We lost a bunch of ours.

 

[ucfdiver]

Be happy you got 15+ years of no fees. Today expect to see more fees. Be happy the parks are open. We lost a bunch of ours.

Sorry, I don't follow the logic of "We use government power to buy these parks, be happy you didn't already have to pay to access a site which your tax dollars purchased and you've bought a park pass to (which are used by everyone else accessing the exact same park, most of whom require more resources than cave divers)."

Maybe I'm the only one who feels that way tho?

 

[Peter_C]

Do I wish I never had to pay fees. Heck YES! I love the word FREE. Am I getting more and more used to paying fees for everything...you bet.

Well if the state has financial issues the parks will be one of the first things to close. Will you then be complaining that they didn't give you the option of supporting them through a use fee?

Cali has been going through all kinds of ideas including using DMV fees and other means to generate more revenue for our state parks. If the money isn't there they can not stay open. Hence why we had so many close and lots of layoffs, including mandatory closures of government offices every third Friday I believe.

So what if it costs you $10 more to go diving for a day? Chump change compared to the rest of the associated costs for diving. How much did you spend on a can light?

 

[LiteHedded]

how many times are we expected to pay to use our own resources?

they already increased the cost of the annual pass.
we pay for the park with our taxes, we all bought annual passes (at the increased price), and now they want an additional 15 bucks per day of diving.

 

[ucfdiver]

Do I wish I never had to pay fees. Heck YES! I love the word FREE. Am I getting more and more used to paying fees for everything...you bet.

Well if the state has financial issues the parks will be one of the first things to close. Will you then be complaining that they didn't give you the option of supporting them through a use fee?

Cali has been going through all kinds of ideas including using DMV fees and other means to generate more revenue for our state parks. If the money isn't there they can not stay open. Hence why we had so many close and lots of layoffs, including mandatory closures of government offices every third Friday I believe.

So what if it costs you $10 more to go diving for a day? Chump change compared to the rest of the associated costs for diving. How much did you spend on a can light?

I spent
$1000 on a drysuit
$1350 on a can light
$2500 on a scooter
$650 on doubles
lots of other expenses....

...but never once have I been asked to pay for something that ALREADY BELONGS TO ME!

I'll gladly pay for the cost of operating a state park. For divers, that really doesn't change if we use the park every day or once a year, so an annual cost is very fair. The gate at Peacock Springs has to be opened daily if I'm there or if I'm not. I use a parking spot, steps (which cave divers paid for) and facilities to gear up (which cave divers paid for)....I don't plan to pay any more if I can help it.

You can't think about things as a CA resident. You guys don't even stick up for yourselves when the government takes away your 2nd amendment rights, Floridians aren't that way ;-)

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Lulz, burn.

 

[Jax]

Sorry, I don't follow the logic of "We use government power to buy these parks, be happy you didn't already have to pay to access a site which your tax dollars purchased and you've bought a park pass to (which are used by everyone else accessing the exact same park, most of whom require more resources than cave divers)."

Maybe I'm the only one who feels that way tho?

how many times are we expected to pay to use our own resources?

they already increased the cost of the annual pass.
we pay for the park with our taxes, we all bought annual passes (at the increased price), and now they want an additional 15 bucks per day of diving.

I spent
$1000 on a drysuit
$1350 on a can light
$2500 on a scooter
$650 on doubles
lots of other expenses....

...but never once have I been asked to pay for something that ALREADY BELONGS TO ME!

I'll gladly pay for the cost of operating a state park. For divers, that really doesn't change if we use the park every day or once a year, so an annual cost is very fair. The gate at Peacock Springs has to be opened daily if I'm there or if I'm not. I use a parking spot, steps (which cave divers paid for) and facilities to gear up (which cave divers paid for)....I don't plan to pay any more if I can help it.

You can't think about things as a CA resident. You guys don't even stick up for yourselves when the government takes away your 2nd amendment rights, Floridians aren't that way ;-)

Wow, guys, get over it . . . you aren't paying for the park. You are paying for that which it takes to maintain and sustain the parks. What was in the past is in the past - we cannot afford to keep operating that way! (We being everyone, as all the States have this issue.)

If not you, the user, to bear the greater brunt of the fees, then who?

Do you want to see Statewide Taxes go up, to pay for the park infrastructure sustainment, just so someone can put this on a ballot someday and your park and springs shut down?

Would you prefer to see them privatized, where everyone diving / swimming there, would pay the entire cost of keeping the area running?

I agree that those of you that bought an annual pass with the assumption that the diving fees were included should be grandfathered. Yes, please, petition the State to do that. But otherwise -- the "user fee" is a long-known tax, and it will continue to become ever more prevalent.

If not you, the user, then who?

 

[LiteHedded]

Wow, guys, get over it . . . you aren't paying for the park. You are paying for that which it takes to maintain and sustain the parks. What was in the past is in the past - we cannot afford to keep operating that way! (We being everyone, as all the States have this issue.)

If not you, the user, to bear the greater brunt of the fees, then who?

Do you want to see Statewide Taxes go up, to pay for the park infrastructure sustainment, just so someone can put this on a ballot someday and your park and springs shut down?

Would you prefer to see them privatized, where everyone diving / swimming there, would pay the entire cost of keeping the area running?

I agree that those of you that bought an annual pass with the assumption that the diving fees were included should be grandfathered. Yes, please, petition the State to do that. But otherwise -- the "user fee" is a long-known tax, and it will continue to become ever more prevalent.

If not you, the user, then who?

then why just divers? what do we do that costs the park more than other users?
we (cave divers) built all the damn facilities we're using anyway

 

[Jax]

then why just divers? what do we do that costs the park more than other users?
we (cave divers) built all the damn facilities we're using anyway

You tell me, then. What facilities need to be maintained? What salaries and benefits to be paid to employees? What safety equipment? What improvements? What parking lots? What security?