Posted on 06/17/2008 10:58:01 AM PDT by Domandred
Boaters who use canoes, kayaks, drift boats and other nonmotorized craft could know in July if a fee will be proposed in next year's Legislature.
Gov. Butch Otter reconvened on Monday a group that is working to "develop a fair and equitable approach to funding the state's boating program." But the basic decision the group appears to be facing is whether to implement registration fees for nonmotorized boats.
Motorized boats and sailboats already pay registration fees and gas taxes, and their annual fee was raised Jan. 1 from a base of $13 to $20 for boats up to 12 feet, and $2 per foot over that.
It's unlikely the Legislature would pass back-to-back fee increases for motorized boat owners. "I suppose we'd take a look, but I'd have to have a real strong reason," said Sen. Lee Heinrich, R-Cascade.
Otter's special assistant, John Chatburn, is chairing the working group, which met on Monday in Boise. The group met for the first time last fall.
Chatburn asked members of the committee, which includes representatives from motorized and nonmotorized boating groups, as well as law enforcement, counties, outfitters and guides, legislators and other state agencies, to talk to their constituents and identify needs, such as facilities and maintenance, education and safety patrols. Then he asked them to estimate costs and determine how they should be funded.
The group plans to meet again in July, which will allow the governor's office time to review any proposals that include a fee increase that could affect the state's budget.
Any proposals to create a new fee would have to go through the Idaho Legislature.
(Excerpt) Read more at idahostatesman.com ...
Aren't SAILboats non-motorized? Why should a canoe be tax exempt while a sailboat is taxed?
Surf boards, boogie boards, wind surfers are next.............
No non motorized boat should be licensed or taxed.. the right to use navigatable waterways is INALIENABLE as per the constitution. I don’t see how any registration or fee upon boaters using them can be constitutional.
Why should anything be taxed? This is a better question. We are taxed on the income that we pay for these items. Then we pay a sales tax and for the priviledge of using them we are taxed.
Not necessarily. If it's more than skiff-size, it's not uncommon for a sailboat to carry an auxiliary outboard in the event of becoming becalmed or so as to maneuver in the harbor.
Of course, some lazy canoeists will sometimes employ an electric trolling motor.
My pelican fishing kayak however is not taxed and I don't use ramps. I just pick it up and throw it into the water. I don't use docks either as I just tie it off to a tree or drag it out of the water onto land if I'm getting out for a long period of time.
If it is like the 100+ year old tax on phones, it started as a “luxury” tax on the rich (100 years ago, who had phones?).
Pretty sure that soon as they do they have to register the boat. My little brother living in Utah has on of those inflatable pontoon boats that fold up into a pack. He was going to buy an electric trolling motor for it until he found out he would have to basically register his backpack as a motor boat.
“Then we pay a sales tax and for the priviledge of using them we are taxed.”
Sometimes there is a cost to the taxpayers associated with boating. I know the lake near me has to be “de-weeded” at great cost every year so the motorboats can navigate freely. Also, a damn is maintained to keep the lake at a certain level. As a taxpayer, I don’t think these costs should be passed along to me if I don’t use the lake for recreation.
“Also, a damn is maintained ...”
Ooops — damn = dam.
I was thinking of democrats when I typed that word.
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
oh how screwed are we.
For heaven’s sake, don’t give them ideas!
Would damn be for the Biblical "lake of fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels"?
At which point, in Michigan anyway, the canoe is required to be registered. DNR love to give out tickets to motorized canoes on the Au Sable river.
Just kidding. (Or am I?)
>the right to use navigatable waterways is INALIENABLE as per the constitution.<
My canoe never saw the Missippi nor the ocean. Small lakes and lots of ponds for fishing was where I went. Need I mention that I had to register it every year.
Aren't SAILboats non-motorized? Why should a canoe be tax exempt while a sailboat is taxed?
Check with the money grubbing jerks at TPWD. In Texas, sailboats less than 14ft, punts, canoes, and rowboats do not require registration. Anything larger....well, watch your wallet.
I guess the funds are to repair the potholes we put in their precious waterways because TPWD sure hasn't used it to fix the cabana's on Mustang Island.
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