Just over half of drivers in the State of Washington are paying an optional $5 fee when renewing their vehicle licenses to help support state parks, reported The Seattle Times.
The state began allowing drivers to opt in to the fee in September in a bid to ween state parks off the state's general revenue fund. Without additional revenue, the state was considering closing 40 state parks to balance its budget.
Since its inception, 51.5% of car owners have voluntarily paid the extra $5, state park officials told The Times. That provided about $1.1 million a month in revenue, or just enough to keep all the parks open.
During fiscal years 2007-09, general revenue funds accounted for 66% of state park's operating budgets, but the budget proposed for the 2010-11 biennium reduces that ratio to 30 percent and seeks to raise 47 percent from donations and park fees, The Times reported.
