"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
I agree. What happens is towns figure "boat people have a lot of
money, so lets go get some from them." It sucks.
John C.



If the money goes into a dedicated fund to
maintain/improve the boat ramp and associated parking lot, it's hard to
see
what the beef would be----but that's a huge "if".

In WA, every gallon of gasoline sold is subject to a large tax to maintain
state highways. I believe the tax is now almost 30-cents a gallon, so
every
time a driver burns 20 gallons of gas in his car he's
contributing $6 toward highway maintenance. Doesn't seem all that far out
of
line- the roads aren't paved and maintained by magic.

When the law was put in, years ago, the legislature acknowledged that not
all
gaoline is used by vehicles driving on a highway. Boaters are allowed to
keep
track of their gasoline purchases, and individually file for a refund of
the
gas tax each year. Of course, the paperwork is a hassle, a lot of boaters
only
pay $15-20 in tax, and so most people don't file for the refund.

The unrefunded portion is *supposed* to go to improving boat ramps and
other
boating-oriented uses. Ha! The state capped the refund at 19-cents when
they
raised the tax beyond that point. That's almost understandable, since the
majority of boats that burn gasoline are traveling down the road on a
trailer
for a lot more miles than they are travelling across the water.However, in
most
years the money allocated for boating infrastructure gets raided for other
uses. What would seem to be a reasonable idea gets screwed up by greedy
politicians.

Conservatives should be applauding user fees for boat ramps, trailer
parking,
etc.
This places the financial burden squarely on the shoulders of the people
benefitting from the service, rather than the taxpayers at large. :-)

The problem us fiscal conservatives have with the fees, is the usage.
California has (had) $35 billion + in the highway fund. Now we can not get
any highway improvements as there is no money in the state budget available.
Seems as if the Former Governor Gumby and his Legislature borrowed all the
money for the general fund. Reduced the deficit we saw. But still $35
Billion in money that has been stolen.