fyi - NC Boaters and wannabes .....

[tellico]

June 17, 2015


Dear North Carolina BoatU.S. Member:


As part of the current state budget debate, the North Carolina General Assembly is considering legislation that would impose a significant new user fee on all boats 24 feet and longer that are operated in coastal waters. Starting at $72 and ranging up to $1,300 annually (depending on boat length.) For example, boat the fee for a 40 foot boat would be $200 annually. This would be in addition to state registration fees, which were raised in 2013 to fund dredging and lake weed control. This new fee, combined with registration fees, would be the highest state imposed charges on recreational boats nationwide. Click here to see the charges for your boat operated in coastal waters.


We urge you to contact your State Senator and Representative today and respectfully urge them to vote "No" on the “Coastal Waterways User Identification Number” and associated user fee contained in the Senate version of House Bill 97. While the intended use of this fee is to increase funding for dredging of waterways and inlets, this budget proposal places too great a financial burden on recreational boaters.


Please take 2 minutes right now and click HERE to easily send a message to your elected officials. Ask them to consider other means to pay for dredging North Carolina’s coastal inlets and essential waterways. The budget bill is now before the North Carolina Senate and will be voted on in the next few days.


We also encourage you to FORWARD TO A FRIEND, your fishing or boat club, and neighbors.

 

[capttonyf]

The sad truth in this country is politician don't seem to get the fact that people can justify paying a Tax up to a certain threshold. Once that point is passed they look for ways around it and the Government ends up with less rather then more revenue.

Not your life long diahard boaters or fisherman, but your few weekends a month recreational boaters will just get out of boating if you raise the taxes to high. They will hit the point of this is wasteful and I can spend my money better somewhere else. Look what the Luxury tax did to the industry in the early 90's. Business and corporations are he same way. Tax them beyond what they think is fair and they find a way to avoid it by moving out of the state and or country.

Think of how much money the state of FL lost over the years because they wouldn't cap the sales tax on large yachts. Most buyers of say a $10,000,000 yacht would register offshore for a few thousand as opposed $700,000 in sales tax. Now with it being capped more boats than ever are being registered within the state instead of offshore and they now have more revenue.

North Carolina and any coastal state depend on boating and tourism money. If you tax them to death they'll move or sell their boats and take their money with them. Even on the charter boats, if you raise their expenses, they raise their rates and less tourists visit NC to go fishing. What happens when less people come fishing and bringing their families along with them? You need less hotels, less restaraunts, less T Shirt shops etc. It's a snow ball effect rolling in the wrong direction. If anything they should be incentivising people to move their boats to NC, not driving them away.

Tony

 

[Glory]

I wonder what party the suggestion came from??

JM

 

[Freeebird]

I don't.

 

[rwappleton]

I'll try this one.......BOTH!!!!!!

 

[magnawake]

That's nuts. I hate to think boating is getting so expensive it's just not fun anymore. How about South Carolina's 6% property tax every year. That ran lots of boaters up to NC. This land of the free is getting to be not so free unless you have plenty of money.

 

[Walter P]

You can't outrun it... Folks left SC for NC to avoid a ridiculous tax and eventually it followed them (in a different disguise) My son wants to leave NJ to relocate in TENN because the taxes are a fraction of ours. I told him that in a few years it would catch up and your move would be in vain. People need to take a stand and get rid of all the government waste on all levels. Politicians pander to whomever will vote for what they say and we all know that some people are takers and others are givers. I believe that we are at a crossroads where the takers are outnumbering the givers. A simple way to solve the issue is to require a person to pay taxes in order to be qualified to vote. Extreme....yes it is and I know it will never happen. I don't particularily care for Donald Trump (the egotist) but most of his talking points would be difficult to agrue against. I have to admire his guts.

North Carolina needs more funds in order to continue the status quo and a good way to get is would be to scalp the "Rich Boaters" and the people go along with it because after all it doesn't affect me since I don't own a boat. It all depends on who's ox is being gored.

Well I vented.... thanks for listening..

Walt

 

[Freeebird]

Here's an article that sheds a bit more light. Quite frankly, if the money collected is used to keep channels and passes open, it may not be that big a deal in terms of at least getting something in return for paying these fees. I recently passed over that bridge at Oregon Inlet, and no doubt the inlet needs a lot of work. Not much point in having a boat if you can't get in and out through such passes and channels.

http://www.sandandgravel.com/news/article.asp?v1=19644