Report 2010-125 Recommendation 18 Responses

Report 2010-125: State Lands Commission: Because It Has Not Managed Public Lands Effectively, the State Has Lost Millions in Revenue for the General Fund (Release Date: August 2011)

Recommendation #18 To: Lands Commission, State

To better demonstrate its need for additional staff, the commission should quantify the monetary benefits of its staff ’s duties other than processing lease applications, and consider billing lessees for those activities.

1-Year Agency Response

The commission asserted that it has been able to secure a management fee in certain oil, gas, and geothermal producers as well as larger industrial leases to recoup actual costs. It also stated that it is conducting a workload analysis to quantify staff duties as part of its foundational research to establish new minimum rent levels. The commission indicated that the goal in establishing minimum rents based on this methodology is to ensure that most of the lease maintenance costs not currently captured would at least be offset by annual rents and make administration of these leases cost neutral to the State’s General Fund. (See 2013-406, p. 208)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2010-125

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.