Registration fee distribution

[Captain Bill]

Even though I haven't been a resident of NC for several years I got a notice saying that I needed to register my federally documented boat in NC, but there is another thread on that. My boat is registered in Florida as well as federally documented. It looks like it will be much cheaper in NC, but it got me to wondering. I had understood vaguely that registration fees in Fl went into a trust fund that built things like boat ramps. Since as a 44 foot boat owner I can't use a boat ramp, I kind of wondered what I was getting for my registration fee, considering it is much higher than for those boats that can use boat ramps. So I looked up the Florida law on the subject and found this statement under distribution of fees.

Such moneys to be returned to the counties are for the sole purposes of providing recreational channel marking and other uniform waterway markers, public boat ramps, lifts, and hoists, marine railways, and other public launching facilities, derelict vessel removal, and removal of vessels and floating structures deemed a hazard to public safety and health for failure to comply with s. 327.53.

Now as the owner of a non-trailerable boat has anyone on the forum ever seen a public lift, hoist, or marine railway? I certainly haven't. Doesn't this seem to imply that we should be getting something for our money that we're not? If anyone knows of a public lift or marine railway please tell me where to find it.

[awpptdt]

Well, well, what you get in the tarheel state is well funded Marine patrol, along with some ramps with not enough parking, at least in New Hanover county.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by awpptdt

Well, well, what you get in the tarheel state is well funded Marine patrol, along with some ramps with not enough parking, at least in New Hanover county.

It would appear that the new registration fees in NC are going to pay for inlet dredging. That would appear to give some positive return for larger vessels paying more money. Having gone through a couple of NC inlets it would be nice to have a few feet of water under the keels.

[denverd0n]

In the end, it really doesn't matter what they SAY the money will be spent on. They just spend it however they would like anyway.

Here's an example. Florida has a lottery. It is officially named the Florida Education Lottery. The agency that runs it is called the Florida Education Lottery Commission. The money goes into the Florida Education Lottery Trust Fund. The money gets spent on education, so they say.

Here's the catch. When they started raking in money from the lottery, they just reduced the amount from the general fund that was being spent on education. Didn't change what they spent on education by a penny. For every "extra" dollar that the lottery brought in, they reduced the amount from the general fund by the exact same dollar.

It's all a shell game. If you think you know where they have hidden the pea, you are only fooling yourself.