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.
But Chatburn said the purpose of the July meeting is to discuss the group's findings, then figure out how to address them. "I think it's way premature to be talking about the rest of it until you get that information," he said.
Otter said in the past boater fees were inequitable. He didn't sign the fee increase for motor boats passed by the Legislature in 2007 but also didn't veto it.
There have been four attempts since the 1990s to get a nonmotorized boating registration fee through the Legislature. The last unsuccessful attempt happened in 2004.
Motor boat registration fees cover about 35 percent of the state's $4.6 million annual boating program, which includes enforcement, maintenance and upkeep of boat ramps and other facilities, education, search and rescue, and other programs. Most of the money for the state's boating programs comes from federal sources.
Nonmotorized boaters do not pay a state registration fee, although they pay user fees on many rivers in Idaho as well as excise taxes on their equipment.
Idaho Parks and Recreation officials estimated about 90 percent of the state's boating funds originate from motorized sources, such as fuel taxes. But members of the working group questioned that ratio and said it credited too much money to motorized users.
"I'm not comfortable with it," said Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene.
Tom Briggs, marine deputy for the Ada County Sheriff's Office, said more money is needed for search and rescue and patrols, but representatives of user groups disagreed.
"I challenge you to show me the cost of search and rescue for nonmotorized boaters," said Howard Miller of the Idaho Whitewater Association, which is a group that represents rafters and kayakers.
Pam Smolcynski of Trout Unlimited also questioned the benefit nonmotorized users would receive for the additional fee.
Miller argued nonmotorized boaters already pay an equitable share, and a person launching a canoe requires less services than a person launching a motor boat from a trailer.
"We're a different crowd," Miller said. "We don't need concrete boat ramps."
Roger Phillips: 373-6615
