The state agency that oversees dispersal of lottery proceeds has delayed allocating $8.5 million to Colorado state parks for 2007 on grounds that the parks division did not provide proper paperwork for the $5 million spent last year.

"We've been working with state parks since November to resolve these billing issues so we can consider their proposals for new money," said Chris Leding, spokesman for Great Outdoors Colorado. "We have not held up a fund proposal for this long previously."

The agency annually allocates $52 million in lottery receipts among beneficiaries, including the Colorado Division of Parks and Recreation.

Lyle Laverty, director of the parks division, said the agency has implemented "changes in structural processes" to prevent such bookkeeping problems from happening again.

And assuming the parks division receives its $8.5 million allocation for this year, the public will not notice any reduction in services this summer at the 41 state parks because of the dispute, he said.

But, according to GOCO Executive Director John Swartout, "Even if we start paying their bills when we receive the proper documentation, our concern about their lack of internal controls is still an issue."

Part of the dispute involves the $1.2 million the parks department has requested for Cheyenne Mountain State Park, a 1,700- acre site on the southwest edge of Colorado Springs, Swartout said.

About $24 million has been spent on the El Paso County park, the largest single expenditure ever by GOCO, he said.

Swartout said the GOCO board wants more information about the parks department's long-range plans to build luxury cabins, a $1.26 million lodge and a $4.3 million events center for elegant weddings and receptions at Cheyenne Mountain that, in effect, would put facilities at the park in competition with the nearby Broadmoor Hotel.

The carriage-trade facilities are "certainly not something people normally think of when they think of going to a state park," he said.