State spending up 10.8 percent per biennium
North Dakota state general fund spending has grown 10.8 percent every two years for the past 10 years. And that’s despite a projected $1.2 billion budget surplus by the end of June 2009. The numbers were prepared by the North Dakota Legislative Council.

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Oil price decline worries state
State Budget Director Pam Sharp says the state is working with its economic consulting firm on a new set of revenue projections that take into account world oil prices. In August, the state was using a $95 per barrel price for projections, but crude oil has slipped signifi cantly since that time.

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Third quarter visits down at state parks
Visitation at North Dakota state parks was down nearly 3 percent from last year. Speculation, according to director of North Dakota Parks and Recreation, “Any number of factors can infl uence park visitation, including the weather, poor fishing, road construction, fuel prices and the economy.”

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More riding Amtrak
More than 131,000 North Dakota passengers took advantage of Amtrak’s Empire Builder during the 2008 fi scal year, an increase of 9.5 percent from the previous year.

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Price of traction up
State and local governments in North Dakota and around the nation are worried about the price of road salt skyrocketing. Expectations are it will be up 28 percent. Last year, the state of North Dakota spent $1.6 million for 29,000 tons of road salt.