· Wallop-Breaux Act, a U.S. federal law enacted in 1947, provides for user-pay/user-benefit distribution of sports fishing related taxes. Based on the rationale for this set of fees I have come up with the following.
1) The tax on canoes, kayaks, SPB, kiteboards, small sail craft, etc. (NMBs) at point of sale, equipment for NMVs and repair costs. These taxes go to general revenue as far as I know. There is little or no direct benefit to the NMB public.
2) Motorboat launches must meet Federal standards to get grant money form the Wallop-Breaux Act based funds. Projects must be “technically sound and competently designed.” While most taxes on NMBs are at a state level there are Federal taxes in some cases.
3) All NMV fishing gear is probably taxed at 10% (Federal), but there is no direct NMV benefit? Federal review of boat ramps, while FWCC has recommended NMV launch types counties and cities have built extravagant and poorly designed NMV launches.
4) Ecotourism is growing in popularity, with canoeing, kayaking, kiteboarding, standup paddle boarding.
· The major push for this tax is coming from the Motorboat/yacht lobby. They have tried for years to get extra money for more motorboat launches and see this tax as a way to increase funding for their projects. They are using the excuse of safety and user pay/user benefit as a wedge to have NMBs taxed. The safety issue of fatalities related to NMBs have averaged 15 a year and trending downward. FWC’s statistics suffer from difficulty of data collection to prove their case that safety has become a major concern.
· There is no information concerning where the federal taxes that are collected on fishing gear and fishing kayaks go, but these funds probably go to motorized boaters, via the Wallop-Breaux Act.
· Some canoe/kayak launches have been built in Florida using state funds but are very expensive and poorly designed.
· There are complaints by Oregon law enforcement that people are ignoring current fees and that they need to be increased to increase enforcement personnel.