Florida: Pay To Paddle

A proposed tax on kayaks and other nonmotorized boats is making waves among outdoors enthusiasts.



http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/LOCAL/209140334/1078/news





---------------



Indiana has a $5 per year fee going already, out of state boats not exempt. I guess the worst part is the required sticker on bow.


OH: numbers 15/3, sticker 20/3 NM

this sucks
I have already included my name among the dissidents when Scupper Pro Frank and friends circulated the addresses of opposers in the legislature. Looks like a back door approach to me.



Paul

Stereotypical Florida politics
They use the back door so often it should be renamed the main entrance!

When the Brevard County commission offered the voters a chance to fund a new development for the county offices, as well as the beginning of a town now called Viera, we turned them down flat.

No problem: they went ahead with some type of bond or equivalent issue and built it on the Duda Sod Farm.

BIG kickbacks to the commision from developers, so I understand.

So, this bit to bring in more Fed money while milking the users that ask NOTHING from them is nothing new.

Bob

Registration…
Thanks for the update on the registration. Here’s a link to be included in a petition against it.







WWW.paddleflausa.com/Members/takeastand.htm



Tax the smokers, good. Tax the ones who pick up their beer cans,bad.

T

You can’t tak it with you
so I’m going to spend it befor I die.



I’m torn on this one. In Illinois it cost $6 for a 3 years sticker. Our state is laying-off workers by the hundreds. DNR budget has once again been cut. The only place that does not feel the pinch is the “State of Chicago”. I would pay more if it went into the DNR budget. It is not going to break anyone. I have 4 boats I need to sticker every 3 years. It will not put me in the poor house. It’s just one or two less beers every three years.



If you can pay $1,000 to $3,000 for a boat, than less than $10 every few years into your state’s DNR fund is not all that bad. It is just the “cost of doing business”. They’re not taking your first born while burning the Bible all at the same time.



So IMHO . . . just relax.



“I know I’m going to get it now”, he said, while getting flamed.

You probably get something for your $
Florida paddlers won’t.

Indiana fees…
You only have to pay the $5 fee in Indiana if you launch in a State Park or other DNR property, such as reservoirs. Rivers and lakes that are not DNR properties are not regulated. This is actually a better deal than in the past if you use DNR properties regularly. It used to cost $2 each time you entered a State Park or reservoir property with a boat. The down side is the sticker on the boat.

http://estore.dnr.state.in.us/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jrjncqr4

Motorized boats pay more.

Pat2

Get involved!
Obviously if you oppose it then get involved in stopping it - organized petitions and such. That said, if the opinions of the taxed doesn’t look like it is enough to stop it, then get involved in changing the law.



Read the actual text and send feedback including a specific proposal on how the funds have to be used. Something about kayak-friendly improvements to launch areas that aren’t big enough for boat trailers only or support for water trails or improvements to waterways that restrict motor boat use. Maybe the tax could be put into a fund that is given as grants to paddling organizations.



The more I learn about how bills are made the more I’m amazed (sometimes in the way that I’m amazed sausage still tastes good) that one person with who simply makes a comment at the right time can change things. I’d like to think all our laws are so carefully considered and such, but alas, 'taint that way.



I’m in CA, not FL so I don’t really know much beyond that one article, but I am around CA gov’t stuff and, really, a phone call or email can make a difference.

Ohio stinks
I hate Ohio’s pay to paddle. But it doesn’t cost me anything. Because i don’t pay it. They don’t have a sticker you have to buy for your bikes, so why should I buy one for my canoes. All this crap does is discourage people from taking part in a healthy, environmentally friendly activity.

Yep
I found out one of the buddy I bike with is actually the council member of my city. So I joked that the road in front of my house is badly cracked for god knows how long. Lo and behold, it got fixed in about a month!

PA is $9.00 per year…

Appears nixed
Panel may have sunk proposed kayak tax:



http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/LOCAL/209150330/1078/news







We’ve got it good in Kentucky. No registration, fees, or stickers.

GREYAK’S WRONG ON THIS ONE…
Florida flatwater (save for some mid/upstate surf, that’s just about all we’ve got) paddlers will reap the benefits of more wave machine-generated whitewater & (particularly) inland surf.



From more power boaters using ramps and docks and parking lots we’ll not be allowed to use or at least discouraged from using to go fast and generate wakes.



Why, friends, all we’ll be doing is paying to have a little more fun! What? c That’s not a good way to



PADDLE ON!



-Frank in Miami

The head of the Parks and Wildlife
Dept. in Texas proposed a paddle craft fee in the Department’s monthly magazine. After a while, with paddlers reaming him out good, he withdrew the idea, but labled us basically bad sportsmen.

Careful
They are busting people this year. I actually was “pulled over” by an ODNR guy, shouting at me from the woods to show my registration. I had it. This guy was levying big fines for non-registered boats.

ODNR
You get a petition going to change the word “Natural” to “Outdoor” in the Department’s name.