Registration Increase?? What the He double hockey sticks!

[Greene's Basin Girl]

Originally Posted by Seeker

Haven't seen my boat registrations yet but can't wait to see the increase. I have 6 boats, 3 that require registration and I register each year. This year 2 never went in the water so I will not register next year until just before (or if) I launch. If I were required to register my canoe, kayak and peddle boat I would sell them.
On the subject of auto/trailer regs my Town clerk gets mine then sends me a letter with the amounts to make out to the state and to the town. My birthday is this month and the fees hurt this year.
One way to make it hurt a little less is that if you have quite a few vehicles that are registered in both your and your wife's names you might want to split them with your name first on half and hers first on the other half as the first names' birthday is when registration is required. Course if you're born in the same month....

I registered my boat last week and it didn't seem like it was much of an increase. The state told me the big increase is on new boat registrations.

[John A. Birdsall]

How many of you can recall the license plate registration. That was for the motor not the boat. Sometimes a real pain in the neck. Have two outboards fine you have two registrations. And when they changed over to the system we use now the grumbling of marking up the bow with numbers. We did not even have the internet and the grumbling could be heard around the lake.

fees for reg. has gone up, and I have inherited a 26' boat this year. wait till the state realizes that a pontoon has two or three logs. They will try and say that is double the registration. And I have been trying for three months to change the registration from my fathers name to mine. They were nice though they said wait till after the first of the year and you will only register it once. If I registered it now I would have to pay for 2009 and ineight days I would have to pay again for 2010. Now that to me is kind of dumb.

Don't forget about them mooring fees. I think they are 25 to 30 @

[lawn psycho]

Originally Posted by John A. Birdsall

How many of you can recall the license plate registration. That was for the motor not the boat. Sometimes a real pain in the neck. Have two outboards fine you have two registrations. And when they changed over to the system we use now the grumbling of marking up the bow with numbers. We did not even have the internet and the grumbling could be heard around the lake.

fees for reg. has gone up, and I have inherited a 26' boat this year. wait till the state realizes that a pontoon has two or three logs. They will try and say that is double the registration. And I have been trying for three months to change the registration from my fathers name to mine. They were nice though they said wait till after the first of the year and you will only register it once. If I registered it now I would have to pay for 2009 and ineight days I would have to pay again for 2010. Now that to me is kind of dumb.

Don't forget about them mooring fees. I think they are 25 to 30 @

Just out of curiousity, do you recall what year did they start requiring bow numbers?

[Airwaves]

Originally Posted by Lawn psyco

Just out of curiousity, do you recall what year did they start requiring bow numbers?

Off the top of my head I don't recall the year, but it happened under pressure from the USCG. In order to boat on the ocean a vessel needs to have bow numbers or be documented. Because NH had license plates the Coast Guard had to register and assign bow numbers to NH ocean going recreational boats. They eventually stopped doing it and told NH to institute a bow number program or recreational boaters offshore would be in violation of the law. Initially after NH started issuing bow numbers they were not reciprocal so out of state boats needed to buy a NH registration decal to add to their out of state bow numbers. Eventually that went away as well.

As to a registration decal for currently unregistered boats, a simple solution would be a one time fee, assigning a number on a decal to be located on the vessel to serve two purposes. It would raise money and the number on the decal could be listed in a database identifying the owner so that if the boat broke free and was found floating capsized it would help in cutting down unnecessary SARs. When a currently unregistered boat is resold privately the new owner needs to notify the state paying a one time fee transferring the decal number to the new owner on the database. When purchased new via retail the owner gets a form to fill out and submit.

I think the one time fee is all that is probably necessary because there are easily hundreds of thousands of these boats in NH already, and probably thousands more sold every year in NH. It would more than fund the establishment of a database and add to the MP budget.

My personal choice for a penalty for not getting the decal is pretty Draconian. If a vessel is found floating around in the water capsized that does not have a decal it is seized by the state and sold to help recoup the cost of the SAR that was launched.

I would not make this something the MP could stop and check for a decal, but if there were a reason to stop a boat like this, the owner would be told to get a decal, then if he/she didn't within a certain period of time the vessel could be seized. Like I said, pretty Draconian but it would ensure compliance.

Just my $.02

[Senter Cove Guy]

I'm almost positive that I've got my 1988 plate hanging up in the garage.

[ApS]

Sounds right: using the last two letters in your registration number, and working backwards, it'll come out that "AA" was about 1988. That was also about the time the state also started required unpowered sailboats to "pay-up" for the temporary, but unregistered use of NH's wind.

Airwaves wrote:

"...I think the one time fee is all that is probably necessary because there are easily hundreds of thousands of these boats in NH already, and probably thousands more sold every year in NH. It would more than fund the establishment of a database and add to the MP budget...My personal choice for a penalty for not getting the decal is pretty Draconian. If a vessel is found floating around in the water capsized that does not have a decal it is seized by the state and sold to help recoup the cost of the SAR that was launched..."

1) With the new decals being reported "flimsy", this couldn't be applied to every capsized boat, particularly those involved in NHMP investigations.

2) Maine "just nixed [2005's] kayak/canoe registration fee".

"A lot of people in the state were annoyed with this. No surprise there that this was attached to a budget bill. Goes to show that you really do need a lot of support to avoid this type of legislation, not just boaters."

And while we're "annoying people", a kayak registration requirement should be rushed through the Legislature—to be effective in 2010—and see what happens to other Legislation.

3)

"Fees tend to be more punitive for canoe and kayak owners than motorboat owners. [These] boaters typically own more than a single canoe, kayak or raft. As a result, they pay a disproportionate share of boating fees as compared to the owner of a single, much more expensive powerboat. There is also a high rate of turnover of whitewater boats...

"Registration laws increase the operating costs for organizations. Thus the overhead increases for church and civic organizations, university programs, tour operators, commercial angling outfitters and whitewater outfitters, which might chill participation in the sport and the market."

"Registration requirements deter tourism. Since only a small handful of states require the registration and numbering of canoes, kayaks and rafts it creates an inconvenience and added cost for paddlers visiting a state with registration requirements. This discourages paddlers from coming to the state spending money for campgrounds, motels, food and gas eventually causing a decrease in tourism revenues and thereby negatively impacting the state economy.

"Registration does not increase or improve paddlesports safety. For instance in Connecticut, a bill was introduced in 2003 under the premise that it would improve safety; however, a study by the American Canoe Association found that the number of paddlesports fatalities in Connecticut has averaged 1.6 over the past 6 years. A registration requirement will not reduce the number of fatalities below 1.6 from the entire population of the state. Further, in a 1998 study, American Whitewater found that there were less than 2 fatalities per 100,000 participants. Again, registration will not reduce that rate since it is below the threshold for legislative efficacy and response."

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/co...r_registration

(The above link is not to the pre-eminent organization among the paddlesports).

Disclaimer:
Though I presently own three "manually-powered craft", I haven't put them in the water these past several years. My BIL does bring an inflatable kayak to Winnipesaukee in his RV; however, any visitor from a state that doesn't require registration isn't going to have a decal!

I'd say make it a voluntary measure those who desire payments to increase the MP budget—purchase a decal.

BTW:
One recent year, the NHMP budget included the purchase of a former oversized Coast Guard boat that throws a wake that's a menace to every canoe out there!

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by Senter Cove Guy

I'm almost positive that I've got my 1988 plate hanging up in the garage.

I think that is about right too... My Parents and I moved east from Washington St. in 86 and it was 2 or 3 years after that, when the Plates stopped. Interestingly enough, the first year or two we just zipped tied the plate to the Outboard motor.... Then we decided the heck with it if we are going to have these plates lets follow the crowd, and mount it to the boat. Yep then the very next year Bow numbers..... I still remember my father looking at me telling me I should have made him wait one more year before mounting the plate.

[Airwaves]

I believe you are correct, I checked downstairs and the sailboat plate I have hanging on the wall is 1988, so 89 is probably the year of the switchover.

[John A. Birdsall]

I am having a hard time recalling when the plates were replaced. It seems to me that My Dad had a Kingfisher boat that he had to put the numbers on the bow. He if I recall was upset with that. But we also had the Puddy tat boat at the same time but never went beyond the plate. I removed the Puddy-tat from the lake in Sept 1970 and it never returned to water again.

I was in the Navy then and I don't recall all the numbers.

As for the charge for row boats, canoes, kayaks and other materials I think they should be charged for use on the NH waterways just like moorings. Perhaps not as much but they are protected just as much as anything else and someone has to pay the protector.

[BroadHopper]

My 1988 Formula has the holes for the plate above the transom. I remember when the feds required bow numbers on all registered boats, they also required the state to use the fed navaid markers. A big arguement came up as to how the fed markers will work on the lake. The feds finally agreed that our bouy system is far better for NH lakes than the feds bouy system. Thanks God for that!

[Taz]

Liforelaxin, How do you figure that states who have sales and income taxes are holding property taxes in check? There are many other states that have high property taxes as well as income and sales taxes. If NH institutes a sales tax, income tax or both, I promise you property taxes will not go down. And then we will be paying high property taxes and an income tax and or sales tax.

I lived in Mass all my life until I moved to NH 11 years ago and I never want to go back. I am also paying much less in taxes in NH even though many think property taxes are high in NH. I beg to differ. My parents pay a similar amount in property taxes in Mass for a similar size house and their land is 3200 square feet. I have over an acre of land.

All states and towns across the country are complaining about decreased revenues no matter how many taxes they have. Elected officials who support higher taxes amaze me. Don't they know that raising taxes will lower tax revenues? Look at history and when taxes are lowered revenues increase. When taxes are raised revenues decrease.

[AC2717]

I own a single family in Pawtucket RI as well that I rent out. 5,000sqft of land, ustr under 1600sqft cape home

Last year property value was $235,300 and rate was 12.39 per $1000
taxes were roughly $2,900

This year property value $204,800 and rate was jumped to 17.78 per $1,000 taxes are now $3,641

Are you kidding me, I understand increasing the rate to hold taxes becuase the town is in need and with the drop in value, but to increase me $700 for the year and going down in value. This is kililng people down there, not to mention RI has the second highest unemployment rate in the country and highest average insurance costs in the country.

They wonder why the state is in trouble they themselves are bankrupting the state by over taxing those that can barely afford to pay, not to mention the house sat vacant for 5 months last year and it taks in $250 less a month than the monthly mortgage is.

[ghfromaltonbay]

Originally Posted by AC2717

I own a single family in Pawtucket RI as well that I rent out. 5,000sqft of land, ustr under 1600sqft cape home

This year property value $204,800 and rate was jumped to 17.78 per $1,000 taxes are now $3,641

Not to say I don't sympathize with that increase, but that's peanuts here in NJ. I own a 1400sq ft cape on 4700 sq ft of land. My taxes have increased from $2400 in 1990 to $6788 for 2009. We have also had an increase in the sales tax to 7% in 2008 and we also have a graduated income tax. Oh yeah, in the past 2 years, the sewer fees which used to be included in the tax bill are now billed separately, so tack on another $145 to my $6788 tax bill. I just cringe when I hear people say a sales or income tax will reduce property tax bills in NH. DON'T BELIEVE IT, FOLKS! We also have Atlantic City gambling which was supposed to help -- all it does is allow state govt. to spend more - mostly on corruption.

[TOAD]

Originally Posted by ghfromaltonbay

Not to say I don't sympathize with that increase, but that's peanuts here in NJ. I own a 1400sq ft cape on 4700 sq ft of land. My taxes have increased from $2400 in 1990 to $6788 for 2009. We have also had an increase in the sales tax to 7% in 2008 and we also have a graduated income tax. Oh yeah, in the past 2 years, the sewer fees which used to be included in the tax bill are now billed separately, so tack on another $145 to my $6788 tax bill. I just cringe when I hear people say a sales or income tax will reduce property tax bills in NH. DON'T BELIEVE IT, FOLKS! We also have Atlantic City gambling which was supposed to help -- all it does is allow state govt. to spend more - mostly on corruption.

I agree..very similiar here in the "Common" Wealth of Assachusetts. The private sector "pays" while the government "plays"!

What do they mean by "Common"wealth"?

[Seeker]

I remember in Mass when they put in the temporary 3% sales tax. I think Herter was governor? The only thing temporary about it was the 3% part.

My boat registrations only went up about 46% this year. What a deal.

[dan]

Originally Posted by Seeker

I remember in Mass when they put in the temporary 3% sales tax. I think Herter was governor? The only thing temporary about it was the 3% part.

My boat registrations only went up about 46% this year. What a deal.

Gov. Volpe ?

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

......they also required the state to use the fed navaid markers. A big arguement came up as to how the fed markers will work on the lake. The feds finally agreed that our bouy system is far better for NH lakes than the feds bouy system. Thanks God for that!

The only reason the state got out of the Navaid discussion was that the lakes where land locked.... if Winnipesaukee and the river system had lockes out to the ocean it would have been a different story....

Vermont and many other states got the same deal too.... the only places in Vermont where they have the Fed markers are on the non land locked lakes........ In short the decession was if the Coast Guard doesn't Patrol it, and can't get to it.... then state marker systems are ok.......