Quote:
Originally Posted by Belmont Resident
I am avid snowmobiler who owns property in another state that just happens to be the state I ride in. I used to be part of that small percentage that helped with trail work. Same same small percentage consisted of about 70% none residents.
My thoughts are if you want to get help especially from none residents then eliminate the huge gap between registrations rates. After all if a person owns property here then technically they are contributing money to the state, yet putting almost no burden on the system.
I feel if none residents are going to be expected to pay more then they should not be expected to drive, sometimes hours to be involved.
I used to be one of those who drive the 4.5 hours to Maine, at a cost of more then $100 round trip. For years I did this, until the last fee increase which went up $20 for none resident and $5.00 for residents, I never realized just how much of a difference there was in the registrations.
So now I'm one of those who pays there $89.00 along with all my taxes, the same taxes that residents pay while only paying $40.00 to ride those same trails that I do.
Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly pay the $100 a year for the trails we ride, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay that much while residents who ride the same trails pay less then half of what I pay while doing nothing to help out.
And yes you can go through and explain how all the money comes from nothing but snowmobile fee's and that being a resident and paying taxes how none of our tax money goes to the trails. Bottom line is if you want to get none resident help then charge them the same rates as residents. This whole pay more if you are a none resident thing just isn't working.
This is a very sore topic for me, because that whole system is terribly flawed in all of our states when it comes to snowmobiling. Just curious, why isn't it like this for boats?
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First off, you can't really blame the clubs for the fees that the state charges, and the system that the state implemented for the fees.
Regarding the bolded, bodies of water on which you boat are not maintained by local clubs. The water is more or less self-maintained. You don't have to cut trees every year, create new trails when landowners close their trails, etc etc.
You cannot compare boating to snowmobiling. Completely different concepts.