I have to pay £46 for the first boat and £34 for the second (and subsequent if I had more) to the estate for the priviledge of using their 35 acres of water.

35 ACRES!!! That's not a lake, that's a puddle!

It must seem like bumper boats out there!

*S

Uhh... don't motorboats PAY to use the ramps?

Depends on the ramp and the town. As it stands now:

Before a watercraft can be registered (in Maine), the owner must show proof that the annual excise tax has been paid on the watercraft. The excise tax is based on the age and length of the watercraft as well as the horsepower of its motor. Maine residents pay the tax to the town in which they reside. Nonresidents or corporations pay the tax in the Maine town where the boat is principally moored, docked or located.

No excise taxes are due on canoes/kayaks but are due on snowmobiles and ATV's. And not on bikes, yet. ;-)

- MAINEmom of 123F, and a Maine boat user - both powered and not so....

And why stop there? What about rafts, pool floats, and rubber duckys?

You are way too late for rafts. You should see the fees for a private Grand Canyon trip!
Funny thing is that here on the Kern it is mandatory for private rafts to have a river permit, have appropriate PFDs (Life jackets), wrap kit, extra paddles or oars, but if you are in an inner tube or a Kmart special none of this stuff is required. Anyone want to guess who gets drowned on the Kern? We average 7.5 per year.

Don

One thing that may have been missed: this bill isn't a BOAT registration -- it's an OPERATOR license. Meaning you have to have a "License to Paddle". But there's no license required to operate a motor boat or sailboat.

*S

But there's no license required to operate a motor boat or sailboat

But those users are already paying the state and towns - for registration, excise fees, mooring fees, launching fees, etc.

But this interested me:

Another measure, LD 510, would require DIF&W to bill for search and rescue costs unless the subject held either a DIF&W-issued license or a new $20 “Maine Rescue Card.”

Is this sort of a "Get of the Woods" free card? Heehee.

Registration fees typically apply to motorized vehicles that can be dangerous to people not operating them, and since they're based on the value of such vehicles, those fees can be substantial... like the ad valorem tax for registering your car in GA.

Excise fees are levied to provide monies needed for the extra healthcare and other public expenditures which will be needed as a direct or indirect result of excisable activities, such as lung cancer from smoking or road accidents resulting from drunk driving.

Mooring and launching fees pay for construction and maintenance of docks, piers, ramps, parking lots and all that.

As a canoer with a cheap canoe that you couldn't really place a value on because it's so old, it would cost more in overhead to bill me a registration fee than what the fee would be. I don't need mooring or a launch to put my canoe in the water. And the only person likely to be injured in my canoe is me, and I have healthcare and life insurance.

So, if this bill were to pass and you go up to Maine this summer, you'd have to get two $20 licenses to paddle your kayaks around. Ouch!

*S

So, if this bill were to pass and you go up to Maine this summer, you'd have to get two $20 licenses to paddle your kayaks around. Ouch!

Well, we'd have to get our own kayaks first....still renting.

(I'm not advocating the additional fees...just understand their thought process...)

Well, we'd have to get our own kayaks first....still renting.

Heh. That makes it easy for them -- rent a kayak, pay $20 extra for a license to paddle! Heh.

*S

It must seem like bumper boats out there!

When there are more than about 12 boats on the start line it is :-)

DM