And what is
the rationale for having the other 299,000,000+ of us pay for something

we'll never use?

**************

The same rationale that takes some of my tax dollars to pay for the
interstate highway running through your location. There's a chance I
may never drive over any of the federal highways in your state, but as
a US taxpayer I am helping to fund them.

(I live in the largest county in the state, and on a state level we are
always hearing the same complaint from little counties. They say, "The
state is taking our tax money and spending it on road improvements and
buildings in King County!".....In fact, King is one of only three
counties in the state that are net tax "exporters"- collecting more tax
money in the county than is actually spent here, and the guys whining
in the rural areas are really getting the subsidies- not the urbanites.
Point is, it can be hard to determine just exactly where any individual
tax dollar is being spent.)

The boating industry, both commercial and pleasure, is a major
contributor to the regional economy. If we theorize that the national
economy cannot be healthy if the regional economies are not, we all
have a vested interest in keeping public transportation arteries,
including waterways, open and operating in all 50 states.

The greatest numbers of people actually using the locks for
recreational purposes have to be the thousands of out-of-state tourists
who consider the Space Needle, the Pike Place Market, and the
Chittenden Locks the three things they have to see in order to "do"
Seattle. The lock walls are jammed with tourists throughout the spring
and summer months.

I wouldn't be opposed to a small fee, but if imposed that fee should
also be charged to the spectators as well as the users of the locks.