Campground Management Services

Campground Management Services (CMS) is a private company that operates campgrounds under concession agreements with federal and state governments. CMS’s strategy is to provide campers with a pleasant camping experience for a reasonable price. They want their sites to be accessible to all. They want to offer great service for planned vacations and campers spontaneously deciding to come by.

CMS is responsible for collecting fees, providing maintenance services, and remitting 20% of all revenue collected to the sponsoring agency. The company has headquarters in California. The corporate headquarters consists of ten positions: president, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, human resources director, secretary/treasurer, controller, and four staff accountants. The company also employs seasonal workers in 15 states. Seasonal workers include 50 regional managers and 500 campground attendants.

Regional Managers
The responsibilities of a regional manager include interacting with government contacts, supervising and training campground attendants, processing fees collected by attendants, and submitting reports to the corporate headquarters. Each geographic region is within a 100 miles radius. Each regional manager is responsible for managing ten campground attendants. Each campground has between 40 and 80 campsites.

The qualifications of a regional manager include excellent administrative and supervisory skills, and ownership of a camping trailer or motorhome. A regional manager is required to live at one of the campsites in the region at least six days per week and must be present on weekends and holidays. A regional manager is expected to work the requisite number of hours to perform the required duties of the position. Compensation for regional managers includes a free campsite with electricity and propane and a monthly stipend of $2,000 per month.

Campground Attendants
The responsibilities of a campground attendant include monitoring the campground for adherence to campground policies, collecting camping fees, preparing usage reports, distributing maps and brochures to campers, selling firewood, cleaning toilet facilities, and performing routine maintenance duties. Maintenance duties include mowing grass, and cleaning campsites and fire pits.

A campground attendant is expected to work 20 hours per week. Compensation for campground attendants include an hourly wage of $10.50 per hour. The campground attendant is also provided with a campground site with electricity and propane. A charge of $300 per month for this campsite is deducted from the attendant’s pay through payroll deduction. The campground attendant is required to live at the campground in his or her own camping trailer or motorhome for 5 days per week from May 1 through September 30.

The campground attendant is provided clothing with two jackets, two shirts, and two sweatshirts with the CMS logo, which identifies the attendant as an employee of the company. The campground attendant is also supplied with a golf cart to patrol the park, and the necessary tools and equipment to complete cleaning and maintenance tasks. All articles of clothing and equipment must be returned to the regional manager at the end of the season.

The qualifications of a campground attendant are excellent communication skills, good manners, the ability to be self-motivated and operate independently, ownership of a camper/trailer, motorhome, and transportation. Relocation expenses are the responsibility of the attendant. Applications for employment are submitted via the Internet and must include a picture of the applicant’s motorhome. The applicant is then interviewed by phone by the human resources director, and an employment decision is made within 14 days of the interview. The majority of campground attendants are retired senior citizens.

Campsite Reservation System
Campsites may be reserved at least three days in advance through a campsite reservation system on the Internet. Only 30% of campsites are available for advanced, prepaid reservations.

The Internet reservation website is owned and operated by another company, ReserveUSA, a software company that specializes in online reservations for all campground in the state and federal park systems. To reserve a campsite, the user must indicate the desired state, location area or park, type of site (tent, recreational vehicle, trailer, group site, or cabin), the arrival date, and length of stay. A list of available sites in the area is generated with available dates, fees, and site details and amenities. The user must prepay by credit card to reserve the site. A receipt is issued which should be attached to the campsite location during the camper’s stay.

The reservation information is forwarded to the appropriate private company that manages campgrounds in that state. ReserveUSA processes the credit card payments, retains a 10% processing fee, and remits the remainder of the fees to the private company managing that particular park.

Campsites – On-site Fee Collection
Campers who do not have advanced reservations may camp on a first-come, first-serve, availability basis. Check in time is 12 noon, check-out time is 2:00 p.m. Campers should select their campsite, complete a registration envelope, insert payment via cash or check into the fee envelope, deposit the fee envelope into the registration lock-box at the campground entrance, and attach the receipt portion of the envelope to the post in front of their campsite.

The information on the campground fee envelope includes the following: Amount enclosed, date purchased, number of days paid, individual’s name, campsite number, vehicle license plate number, and state. The camping fee is $18 per night payable only by cash, personal check, or traveler’s check. Campers who are over 62 years old are eligible for a 50% senior citizen discount through the Senior Pass program.

The campground attendant opens the registration lock-box each day and collects the payments. The envelopes and money are kept in the attendant’s motorhome. The campground attendant completes a campground utilization form (UT-10), which includes the date, the camper’s last name, the site number, number of days paid, and the amount received.

On Monday of each week, the campground attendant completes a revenue collection form, (RC-1) and submits this form to the regional manager. The revenue collection form lists the personal checks received, travelers’ checks, and cash received. After completing the revenue collection form, the campground attendant files the empty campground fee envelopes in a file. At the end of each month, the campground fee envelopes and the UT-10 forms are given to the regional manager.

The regional manager visits each campground attendant on Monday afternoon to collect the revenue collection forms and the cash and checks. Each Tuesday the regional manager prepares a bank deposit slip and deposits the monies in a CMS local bank account. The regional manager mails a copy of the revenue collection form to the corporate headquarters. The controller at the corporate headquarters then arranges for wire transfers of the deposited funds to the CMS primary bank account in California. Any checks that are returned insufficient funds are returned to the corporate headquarters.

At the end of the month, the regional manager collects the registration fee envelopes and the UT-10 forms from each attendant and mails them to the corporate headquarters. An employee at the corporate headquarters reconciles the revenue collection forms with the UT-10 forms, the registration fee envelopes and the bank statement.