[C320-list] State proposes hiking boat fees (Maryland)

[Paul Rickman]

They plan to raise the flush tax and add a frontage tax to your property
taxes.
  
State proposes hiking boat fees
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By 2016, fees would range from $50 to $700 depending on size of boat
By Pamela Wood 
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 11:21 am (Updated: February 16, 11:21 am) 
 
It soon may become much more expensive to put a boat in the water in Maryland.
The Department of Natural Resources is proposing drastic increases in boat registration fees to raise money for dredging, buoy maintenance, ice-breaking and other water projects.
“We do not have sufficient funds to support the needs that we have for boating in Maryland,” said Bob Gaudette, who supervises boating programs for the DNR.
Right now, boaters pay $24 every two years to register their boats.
Under the proposal, the registration fee would be multiplied many times over, depending on the size of the boat.
The fees would be phased in. By 2016, owners of small boats less than 16 feet would pay $50 every two years. Other fees would be $125 for boats from 16 to 32 feet, $250 for boats from 32 feet to 45 feet, and $500 for boats from 45 feet to 65 feet. For the largest boats of all — more than 65 feet — the fee would be $700.
The fees would apply to boats that aren’t registered in Maryland, but are state-documented vessels because they are primarily used here.
The proposal removes an exemption for sailboats that don’t also have motors. Under the proposal, all sailboats 16 feet or larger must register, whether they have a motor or not.
There also would be a new, voluntary registration for canoes, kayaks and paddleboats that would cost $12 every two years. About 57,000 small, nonmotorized boats would be eligible statewide.
Anne Arundel County would be the state jurisdiction most heavily affected by the new rules. There are 36,348 registered boats here, more than in any other county.
If boat ownership stays steady at about 200,000 boats, the new fees would bring in $13.2 million per year. Right now, boating registration generates $2.1 million for the state annually.
But even the proposed increases wouldn’t be enough to plug the boating services budget holes at DNR.
The DNR’s boating programs get most of their money from the 5 percent excise tax paid when boats are sold.
As the economy has faltered, boat sales have plummeted. That means less excise tax money going to the state.
“I am completely at the whim of the marketplaces. If boat sales go up, I have money. If boat sales go down, I don’t have money,” Gaudette said.
But the state still has a long list of boating-related projects. That list could soon get longer. The Army Corps of Engineers announced recently that it can no longer afford as many dredging projects.
The state has about $15 million available for boating projects each year, but an annual list of $41 million worth of work.
Even if the registration fee increases are approved by lawmakers, the DNR still will be short.
“This gets us a little less than halfway there,” Gaudette said. “We’re not going for the moon here. We’re trying to cover the most critical of our projects.”
The projects include maintaining thousands of buoys, markers and signs; maintaining 265 public boating channels; keeping channels free of ice in the winter; having Natural Resources Police conduct boating safety checks; removing abandoned boats; and maintaining public boating facilities.
DNR officials acknowledged that they may face opposition. Lawmakers have been wary of fee and tax increases and many are already frustrated about Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to apply the 6 percent sales tax to gasoline purchases.
Olivia Campbell Andersen, the DNR’s lobbyist, said many boating fees haven’t been changed in decades. And the money would go to projects that will benefit those who pay the fees.
“People recognize the great need for services that these funds provide,” she said. “We want to keep boating thriving and safe in Maryland.”
The proposal is being introduced to the General Assembly today.  A hearing has not yet been scheduled.