Facts and opinion on the LTVA rate increase
A long overdue if ethereal proposal
In the nomad community one of the most talked about subjects this year is the proposed LTVA rate increase. We would like to touch on some facts and then provide a few opinions.
For nomads that don’t know (yes there are a lot), LTVA is an acronym for Long Term Visitor Area. There are several LTVA areas in the southwest United States. From BLM: “The areas designated as Long-Term Visitor Areas were chosen because of their past popularity with winter visitors and because access roads have been developed and facilities are available nearby.” You can find more information here.
This year BLM has presented a proposal to increase the LTVA rate from 180.00 to 600.00 for a long term permit and 40.00 to 200.00 for the short term permit. A long term permit is valid from September 15th - April 15th. As part of the short term rate increase, the duration of a short term stay has been increase from 14 days to 30 days.
Facts
The LTVA rate has not been increased in 16 years (2008).
The proposal seeks a routine increase of rates for permits based on inflation that will not require further review.
The proposal plans to use the revenue influx to upgrade services including at least a million dollars to replace water tanks.
The proposal allows for proper staffing, emergency funds and facility upgrades.
The LTVA program is currently operating at a financial loss.
The controversy
On its face the proposal is reasonable. It will allow for long overdue facility and staffing upgrades for the LTVA. However, there are three parts of the proposal that are difficult to digest.
The increase will increase LTVA revenues 3.7x. This far exceeds the operating loss.
The LTVA (especially La Posa) serves a large population of fixed and low income citizens.
There is no documented plan or eta on exactly what, when and how the increased revenue will be spent.
Opinion
BLM has done a poor job of presenting the benefits of this potential fee increase to the community. The rate increase is long overdue and an increase in revenues will allow for proper staffing (including compensation considerations), facility upgrades and hopefully better services. The fee increase feels exorbitant even if it is far below market rate for services provided. Unfortunately, it will be years before we see direct benefits of the rate increase and the rates will likely continue to rise during that time.