Make license plates the key to beautiful state parks
From the Detroit Free Press Editorial Staff:
Once upon a time — about 20 years ago, but it might as well be back in the dinosaur age — Michiganders covered about 70% of the costs of their state parks through their regular taxes. But no more. As the state’s budget has tightened and tightened, the park system got less and less money. For the last five years, the 98 state parks have received no money at all from the state’s general fund.
This situation has to be rectified. Cliched as it is to talk about publicly owned “jewels,” Michigan’s parks surely belong at the top of that category. They deserve a broad and strong financial underpinning, so no citizen is ever priced out of enjoying the state’s beaches, forests, rivers and camping areas.
Tags: Free Press, funding, Recreation Passport
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