129th MAINE LEGISLATURE
LD 1252 LR 1788(01)
An Act Regarding Snowmobile Registration Fees
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement for Original Bill
Sponsor: Rep. Head of Bethel
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
             
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement
FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 Projections  FY 2021-22 Projections  FY 2022-23
Appropriations/Allocations
Other Special Revenue Funds $792,000 $792,000 $792,000 $792,000
Revenue
Other Special Revenue Funds $792,000 $792,000 $792,000 $792,000
Fiscal Detail and Notes
This bill requires an additional annual snowmobile registration fee of $30 if the registrant cannot show proof of membership in a snowmobile club in the state.  For a resident family residing in the same household in the state, the $30 additional registration fee is for up to 4 snowmobile registrations unless each family member can show proof of membership in a snowmobile club in the state.  The bill would direct that $20 of each additional fee collected be deposited into the Snowmobile Trail Fund (STF) within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (ACF), and $10 be deposited into the Snowmobile Enforcement Fund (SEF) within the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW).  
The IFW has indicated that it lacks a universal method of determining snowmobile club membership for snowmobile registrations and can only estimate the number of registrants that would choose to pay the additional registration fee instead of joining a snowmobile club.  Using an average of 80,000 registrations per fiscal year and the assumption that 1/3 of those registrants would choose to pay the additional fee rather than join a snowmobile club, the fee would generate an estimated $792,000 annually starting in fiscal year 2019-20.  Of this revenue, $528,000 would accrue to the STF within the ACF and $264,000 would accrue to the SEF within the IFW.  The ACF will require additional allocations of $528,000 starting in fiscal year 2019-20 and the IFW would require additional allocations of $264,000 starting in fiscal year 2019-20 to allow for the expenditure of the additional revenue collected.