Fees for motorized boats will rise in ‘08

BOISE – Starting next year, Idaho boaters will pay $7 more annually to register their vessels, but Gov. Butch Otter wants to explore sharing costs among users of smaller and non-motorized watercraft, such as canoes and kayaks.

Otter allowed a bill boosting the boat registration fee, House Bill 200, to become law without his signature, despite concerns that it is “not adequately inclusive of all Idaho recreational watercraft users,” he said in a statement Thursday.

The bill increases the minimum annual registration fee for motorboats and sailboats to $20, up from $13.

As before, owners will pay $2 more for each additional foot of boat length over 12 feet.

While state costs associated with boating – for parking and access, rescue operations and rule enforcement – have risen, registration fees have not increased since 1994, said bill co-sponsor Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest River.

The fee does not apply to rowboats, canoes, kayaks and outboard motorboats measuring under 12 feet, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.

But all watercraft users “have a role to play” in maintaining state waterways, Otter wrote.

“Motorized watercrafts already stimulate Idaho’s economy through payment of fuel taxes and other operational expenses,” he wrote.

“They also are singled out for licensing, and now face increased costs for that privilege.”

Although state lawmakers have considered extending registration fees to kayaks and canoes before, those attempts “failed miserably,” Anderson said.

“No one wants to carry the canoe bill,” he said, adding that he agrees “all users should pay for registration.”

Anderson plans to introduce legislation next year to create a sticker that would generate money for counties and the state Department of Agriculture to fight noxious weeds, such as Eurasian milfoil, that threaten Idaho waterways.

The sticker would apply to all watercraft, including kayaks and those from out-of-state, he said.

An attempt to register kayak and canoe users would require cooperation by user groups, Anderson said.

Otter pledged to “work with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and user groups to identify a more fair and equitable way” of distributing watercraft-associated costs.

The increased fees will begin Jan. 1 for new registrations and renewals, Anderson said.