Quote:
Originally Posted by Orion
Pay to play?
Pay to walk?
Pay to look?
Pay to breath?
Sailboats do already kick in.....even a Sunfish is required to pay.
The problem is governments, as a whole, are not good stewards of our money. When they run out, they just raise the rates or add new sources rather than look for ways to gain efficiencies or, heaven forbid, cut someone's pet project. For example, why is it that two towns on the Lake charge such different tax rates, one being more than double, almost triple, the other. Or as others have said in this thread, they raid "dedicated" funds to solve problems in the General Fund. Sometimes enough IS enough.
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You already pay to walk and ride a bike, unless the only walking and riding you do is on your own land, which you kind of pay to do that as well.
Pay to look, if you want to stop in front of my house to enjoy my view of the surrounding mountains, you will have to pay me a fee to help offset the view tax I pay. That is the only way you get to see the other side of the fence.
National Parks, State Parks, lakes, rivers, etc. are pay to use, because WE as a country decided that we wanted to protect these areas for future generations. This costs money! The impact on waterways is reduced by having designated launch sites along the shores. The purchase, installation and maintenance of these sites is performed by F&G in this state.
I am all for smaller gov't and reduced spending, but these are not the areas that I am willing to see go away as a part of that. I will gladly put a sticker on my watercraft and continue to use them as I do now. I have been in favor of something like this for years. The only watercraft I currently own are paddle craft, so this impacts me in 100% of my water sports activities.
There are plenty of overpaid and under worked folks in most every department at all levels. The tell for me, that that is true, is when a major environmental event or other act impacts an area, there is a posting on most every major media outlet that NON-ESSENTIAL GOV'T EMPLOYEES need to stay home. Start you cutting there!
I for one am invested in protecting the waterways and natural areas for my and future generations.