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An Act To Amend the Fees for Snowmobile Registration
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §1893, sub-§3, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 429, §1 and affected by §3, is repealed.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §13002, 2nd ¶, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read:
AllExcept as provided in Title 36, section 1952-A, all taxes collected pursuant to this section must be transmitted forthwith to the Treasurer of State and credited to the General Fund as undedicated revenue. The Legislature shall appropriate to the department in each fiscal year an amount equal to the administrative costs incurred by the department in collecting revenue under this section. Those administrative costs must be verified by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §13104, sub-§4, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 129, §1 and amended by c. 657, Pt. W, §§5 and 7 and PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §24, is further amended to read:
 
4. Fee.   Except as provided in subsection 5, the annual snowmobile registration fee is as follows:
 
A. For residents, $40$50. The registration for a snowmobile owned by a resident is valid for one year, commencing on July 1st of each year; and
 
B. For nonresidents:
 
(1) Forty-threeForty-nine dollars for a 3-consecutive-day registration. A person may purchase more than one 3-day registration in any season; and
 
(2) Eighty-eightNinety-nine dollars for a seasonal registration.; and
 
(3) Seventy-five dollars for a 7-consecutive-day registration. A person may purchase more than one 7-day registration in any season.
 
The registration for a snowmobile owned by a nonresident must specify the dates for which the registration is valid.
 
Five dollars from each registration fee collected pursuant to this subsection must be transferred to a special fund administered by the Off-Road Vehicle Division of the Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The funds must be used to assist any entity that has a snowmobile trail grooming contract with the Bureau of Parks and Lands in the purchase of trail-grooming equipment. The funds also may be used for the repair or overhaul of trail-grooming equipment.
 
SevenSeventeen dollars from each resident snowmobile registration fee must be transferred to the Snowmobile Trail Fund of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Parks and Lands.
 
Six dollars from each nonresident 3-day snowmobile registration fee and $11 from each nonresident seasonal snowmobile registration fee must be transferred to the Snowmobile Trail Fund of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Parks and Lands.
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §1760, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2011, c. 548, §16, is further amended to read:
 
8. Certain motor fuels.   Sales of:
 
A. Motor fuels upon which a tax at the maximum rate for highway use pursuant to Part 5 or a comparable tax of another state or a province of Canada has been paid; or
 
B. Internal combustion engine fuel, as defined in section 2902, bought and used for the purpose of propelling jet engine aircraft.; or
 
E.  Diesel fuel when bought for use in off-road machinery that is used primarily to groom snowmobile trails that are open to use by the public.
Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §3218, last ¶, as repealed and replaced by PL 2003, c. 390, §17, is amended to read:
All fuelFuel qualifying for a refund under this section is subject to the use tax imposed by chapter 215, unless exempted under section 1760.
 
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes related to snowmobile registration and sales tax on diesel fuel used in snowmobile trail-grooming machinery.
1. It increases the resident snowmobile registration fee from $40 to $50 and allocates the additional $10 to the Snowmobile Trail Fund of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Parks and Lands.
2. The bill increases the 3-day nonresident snowmobile registration fee from $43 to $49 and increases the seasonal nonresident registration from $88 to $99 and allocates the additional revenue to the Snowmobile Trail Fund of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Parks and Lands.
3. It creates a 7-day nonresident snowmobile registration with a fee of $75.
4. It amends the law governing the special fuel tax to make it clear that fuel qualifying for a refund under that law does not lose the sales tax exemption created in the bill for diesel fuel used in snowmobile trail-grooming machinery.