Re: [Paddlewise] Registration Fees for Paddlecraft

Dave Kruger wrote:
> A. Does anyone know which states **require**
> registration of paddlecraft (aka sea kayaks and canoes).
>
> B. For those states which **do** require registration:
>
> 1. How much is the annual fee?
>
> 2. What is the "return" for registration? IOW, does the
> state devote some funds to paddlecraft launching sites
> or marine trails or somesuch? Or, is there no clear return?
>
The main reason that boat registration is so attractive to state governments
is that states obtain Federal funding based on the number of registered
boats within the state.  Depending on how enlightened the state agencies
are, this can be real positive for paddlers - as Andy Knapp reports in
Minnesota - or a real negative, if the increased funding is put into the
state coffers as general revenue to be used to fund DNR programs - as is the
case in Illinois.  The Illinois DNR claims that it has made these funds
available for Human Powered Watercraft (HPW) launch sites, but the way that
the program works in Illinois is that some governmental entity (city,
county, park district, etc.) must request funding, which is granted on a
percentage basis.  Unless paddlers can interest a governmental body in
requesting these funds - and spending some of the local government money -
the funds remain invisible to paddling clubs.

The state also benefits in that the registration law makes it possible to
enforce the payment of sales tax - even for cash sales between individuals.

Principles aside, the boat registration cost is minimal - in Illinois it's
$13 for a first-time registration, which is for a three-year period, and
then $6 for subsequent three-year registrations.  The fine for not
registering your boat is $75, so it really doesn't pay to protest the
registration law by not paying.

A big problem area is in registering home-built boats, or boats that have no
serial numbers.  I've heard stories of the registration process being drawn
out to great lengths in such cases.  Another bureaucratic requirement is
that the seller of a registered boat is supposed to inform the DNR of the
sale, in order to keep the paperwork straight - and to enable the collection
of another sales tax.

The Illinois law does not require the registration of out-of-state boats,
unless the home state has a registration law.  I live in NW Indiana, where
registration is not required, and have been waiting (hoping?) to get stopped
by a conservation enforcement officer in Illinois - just for the amusement
factor.  But this hasn't yet happened in the 13 years since the registration
law was passed.  OTOH, one of my paddling buds got *two* tickets for
non-registration before he finally broke down....

I was president of the Chicago Whitewater Association when the Illinois boat
registration law was passed, and was an active participant in fighting the
Illinois boat registration law.  Copied below is a summary of what happened
in Illinois.   This account was written as part of an exchange I had last
year with an Alaskan whitewater paddler who posted on r.b.p. asking about
boat registration - apparently the Alaskan legislature was considering the
introduction of a "Boating Safety Law", which Dave Seng reports was recently
passed.
~~~~~~~~~~
Begin Account of Illinois Boat Registration:

The paddling community in Illinois found out about the requirement to
register HPW *after* the law was enacted in 1987. The state Dept of Natural
Resources (DNR) responded to a rash of power boating accidents in a popular
boating area (The Chain of Lakes in northeastern IL) by rewriting the Boat
Registration and Safety Act law to increase the penalties for operating a
power boat while drunk. The provisions to require HPW registration were an
afterthought, and were included without any input whatsoever by the paddling
community, although the DNR said it made 'every effort possible' to involve
the paddling community. These new requirements prompted a sense of outrage,
which was the catalyst that brought together the coalition of paddling clubs
to fight this law.

Our major points were that:
a) the passage of a law without input of the group that it affects amounted
to 'taxation without representation'
b) that the income from the newly enacted provisions was not being returned
to paddling community in the form of new access sites or other programs
beneficial to paddlers
c) that the expected income from the program would not cover the
administrative expenses.

We found sympathetic legislators who introduced virtually identical bills in
the House and the Senate for exempting HPW from the boat registration
requirements, and also found a lobbyist that hoped to position himself as
the spokesperson of the paddling community (and so worked for little to no
$). We published articles in all the paddling club newsletters asking that
paddlers write letters to their legislators, the DNR, and the local
newspapers. We drove to the State capitol more than once to testify at
legislative committee hearings, to meet with DNR officials, to meet with the
House and Senate Majority leaders, and to lobby before the big votes.

In one of the meetings with the DNR, we proposed to the DNR that IF they
would provide an accounting of monies generated from HPW registrations, and
would agree to fund paddling-specific programs, we would cease and desist in
our opposition of this law.  Our pleas fell on deaf ears.  Instead, the DNR
introduced two bills into the legislature in an effort to sidetrack the
momentum that building for the paddler-friendly bills.

In the end, four bills were introduce into the legislature - two by the
paddling community to repeal the HPW registration requirements, and two by
the DNR in an attempt to provide some concessions while still requiring boat
registration. The concession were for exempting non-profits (scouts, church
camps, etc.) from registration, and doing away with the requirement to
display 3 inch numbers on HPW.

One of the paddler bills was killed in committee, but the other one made it
through the House and the Senate (by 90+%votes), largely on the virtues of
the 'taxation without representation' argument, as well as the
argument/question of "What's next? Registration of bicycles?" After making
it through the House and the Senate with overwhelming votes, the Governor
vetoed the bill.  The attempt to override the veto garnered only a 40% vote
(60% was needed to override) - no doubt the result of some heavy duty
lobbying/politicking on the part of the DNR.  The DNR bills were approved,
so the final registration law exempts non-profits, and doesn't require the
display of 3 inch numbers on a canoe or kayak.

See http://131.230.57.1/stat_rul/ILLREG.HTM for the text of the Illinois
Boating Safety Law (it's interesting to note that sailboards are exempt from
registration requirements).

Hope this helps,
Erik Sprenne




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