Pa. Game Commission speaks on how it spends money, doesn't predict hunting fee increase

The results of a three-year audit of the Pennsylvania Game Commission have created polarizing opinions in the outdoor community.

The audit showed a $72 million surplus in the Game Commission's game fund. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said it must do a better job at managing its finances and have better oversight. He had 43 recommendations moving forward, the highest, he said, he has ever had for a state agency.

More:Pa. Game Commission holds $72 million surplus in Game Fund, auditor says

Social media reactions to the audit ranged from applauding the Game Commission for building up a massive stockpile of money to criticizing it for asking for fee increases throughout the years.

“What the report didn’t provide was context is some cases. Without that context, some things sound worse than they really are,” Game Commission Communications Director Travis Lau said. “But certainly, the recommendations are for better bookkeeping, and the tighter we can keep a handle on our finances and documentation, the better we will be as an agency.”

Lau noted that all of the Game Commission’s financial numbers are available to the public on numerous websites and publications.

How the Game Commission receives and spends money

The Game Commission does not receive funding from the state budget. Its three main routes of generating revenue is through license sales, timber, oil, gas and mineral (OGM) royalties and federal assistance. 

“The license revenue is, by far, the most stable of those three,” Lau said. “The OGM revenue is affected by market swings.”

Even though the Game Commission doesn’t receive state money, spending money from its Game Fund must be approved by the governor’s budget office, which Bureau Director of Administrative Services Daniel Dunlap says can push more into the Game Commission’s reserve than it would like sometimes.

“We do not have access to spend that money without their executive authorization, Dunlap said. “That’s why the allocation amount in the surplus has grown. We always request a spending authority, and they usually give us a lower amount.”

The Game Commission dips into the surplus when approved expenditures exceed estimated revenue. Since 1999, it's received approval for that eight times.

The commission’s yearly expenditures out of the Game Fund are approximately $100 million, with another $30 million to 40 million in pre-budgeted federal money.

“If you look at the reserve, you should have at least a quarter, probably a third, of your expenditures for the year in there,” Dunlap said. “We always try to keep a positive amount moving forward. If you take $130-140 million, you’re talking a substantial amount.”

Though its spending needs to be approved, the Game Commission said it is looking into spending more money on infrastructure in the future, including better roads, bridges and buildings on its lands. Lau also said there could be more talks to upgrade faculties at Middle Creek and Pymatuning.

Ramping up the fight against Chronic Wasting Disease is another possibility.

“We’ll still need approval to spend that money, regardless of what we’d like to do with it,” Lau said.

In years where the Game Commission made cuts to programs or staff reductions, the surplus could have conceivably been used to prevent those cuts. However, in the years when cuts were made, the commission’s spending was capped below the amount requested.

“We did not specifically request to spend money from reserve because our initial spending request already had been denied, with a lower amount being approved,” Lau said.

Hunting license fee increases

Hunting license prices have remained the same in Pennsylvania since 1999. According the Game Commission, Pennsylvania has the second-lowest average license cost in the country next to Hawaii.

“We believe that our revenue is adequate to carry us and a lot of that is to do with the uptick of OGM,” Lau said.

The Game Commission did not ask for an increase this past year but has asked for one numerous times (and has been denied) before that, citing a prediction of revenue downturn.

“At the current time, we are not looking for an increase to our licenses,” Dunlap said. “It is out there that we are looking into the possibility of having the control to set the limits ourselves in the future because we are predicting a downturn in these revenue sources.”

Escrow accounts

In his report, DePasquale questioned the Game Commission’s efficiency in its escrow accounts. He said the commission had various escrow accounts holding a total of more than $6.5 million in addition to the $72.8 million in the Game Fund.

The audit report referenced the use of seven escrow accounts, and Lau has said that number has since been decreased to five. Two of the accounts are for funds of land acquisition while the other three have federal involvement. The Game Commission's escrow accounts are not currently under control of the state treasury, something that could change in the future.

“As a starting point, we’re going to set up a meeting with the Department of Treasury to see what options they might offer as far as oversight,” Lau said.

Royalties from OGM

DePasquale also said the Game Commission didn’t promptly deposit royalty checks from oil and gas companies or levy interest penalties on delinquent payments.

“A lot of the criticism from the audit report about our handling of those funds and our failure to audit the OGM producers to make sure they are paying the proper amounts boils down to a shortage of manpower,” Lau said. “We did hire an environment planner about two months ago and that will be his primary responsibility. He will be monitoring OGM activity and audit the producers as the state’s audit recommends.”

Overall

In its statement following the audit report, the Game Commission said the report didn’t reveal any misappropriation of funds but identified a number of procedures it can strengthen. But the surplus has been the main talking point, something Lau believes needs better comprehension.

“In most cases, people don’t understand how the surplus works,” he said. “This isn’t something we can independently decide to spend. It’s sitting there but we can’t touch it unless we get approval to spend it.”