NPS Mission - National Park Service

National Park Service FY 2013 Budget Justifications
o In 2012, NRRS will expand reservation services to additional parks and programs.
o In 2012, NRRS will evaluate the contractor’s performance and determine contract extensions
through the performance award term plan.
• Servicewide Point of Sale (Cash Register) System (POSS): The POSS enables the NPS to
effectively and efficiently collect, account, and report recreational fee revenues with the use of
standardized, point of sale equipment. The POSS will greatly enhance the NPS’ ability to complete
cash, check, and credit card transactions; prepare remittance paperwork; provide IT compliance;
provide enhanced employee security; and meet new banking and Treasury requirements.
o In 2011, a Servicewide Point of Sale System (POSS) was implemented at three parks.
o A number of issues have delayed implementation including contracting challenges,
infrastructure and IT security requirements, and business process changes.
o In 2012, additional fine tuning of the POS system will be completed and a new acquisition
strategy will be developed.
• Recreation Fee Comprehensive Plan (RFCP): The NPS has implemented web-based five-year
plans to improve financial management, demonstrate that revenue and expenditures are strategically
managed, and enable efficient reporting of performance for each revenue park, as well as the
Servicewide revenues. The RFCP is the cornerstone of the NPS fee expenditure approval process.
Annually, all revenue-generating parks complete an RFCP that is reviewed and approved at the
regional and national levels. The RFCPs are archived to enable reporting of past performance and
prediction of future trends.
o A new improved version of RFCP was implemented in FY 2011. Under the new approval
process, once a park’s comprehensive plan is approved by headquarters, the park has the
discretion to re-sequence projects within the approved plan, after regional review.
o Per the new approval process, the budget justification contains summary information about
the uses of fee dollars in the fiscal year covered by the justification and a list of new
construction or expanded infrastructure improvement projects costing more than $500,000. A
list of those fee projects planned for FY 2013 is included on page RecFee-13.
Program Overview
Deed Restricted Parks Fee Program
Any recreation fees collected by park units at which entrance fees cannot be collected by reason of deed
restrictions are retained, used, and managed by those respective park units in a manner similar to
FLREA. The authorizing law applies to Great Smoky Mountains NP, Lincoln Home NHS, and Abraham
Lincoln Birthplace NHS. Revenue collected by deed restricted parks continues to be managed and
reported in conjunction with other FLREA revenues.
o In FY 2011, $1.6 million in receipts were collected.
o Annual receipts are estimated to remain over $1.6 million through FY 2013.
Program Overview
Transportation Systems Fund:
The National Park Service was authorized by P.L. 109-131 to collect transportation fees for the use of
public transportation services within park units. All transportation fee monies must be spent on costs
associated with the transportation systems at the park unit where the fee is collected.
o Currently, 14 park units have approval to collect a transportation fee.
o In FY 2011, transportation fee receipts were $14.6 million with expenditures of $12.8 million.
o The estimated annual receipts for FY 2012 and FY 2013 are $15.0 million and $15.3 million,
respectively.
In FY 2011, the NPS Facilities Planning Branch completed Phases I and II of the Alternative
Transportation System Financial Analysis covering 27 NPS Alternative Transportation Systems to which
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