If the proposed Massachusetts tax increases aren't enough of a hit to your wallet, consider this: You also face the possibility of paying more if you go boating in New Hampshire.
Granite State lawmakers are considering doubling the annual fee for registering a boat there. The proposal would raise the fee from $12 to $25 for a 16-foot boat, for example.
The increase would be the first in the state since 1988 and would affect both New Hampshire and Massachusetts residents who vacation on New Hampshire's lakes.
Some of the estimated $1.5 million that would be raised would go to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services' lake restoration fund, but the majority would go to the Department of Safety's Marine Patrol.
The Marine Patrol needs it — not only because it was hit hard by fuel cost increases, but because boat registration fees haven't been raised in more than two decades, said David Barrett, director of the state's Division of Safety Services.
"What's happening is, over the course of time, the registrations haven't gone up and we have absorbed inflation costs," he said.
State lawmakers are debating the proposal, which would increase the fees this summer, if approved.
House Minority Leader Rep. Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, said there may be a need for more money, but hitting up one group of recreational users so drastically isn't the way to get it.
"Speaking as the minority leader, we (as a party) felt the fees were just unjustified," he said. "Most of the increases are either doubled and, in some cases tripled, and that's just unacceptable."
Barrett said the increase may be steep now, but it is justified.
By raising fees from $12 to $25 for a 16-foot boat, it would still cost less to register a boat in New Hampshire than in Massachusetts. Barrett said Massachusetts charges $40 to register a 16-foot boat.
"There's no question that it would've been a little less painful had you done it 10 and 15 years ago, respectively," he said. "But that didn't happen. All it's really doing is keeping pace with the demand in service."
Without the extra funding, Barrett said the department would face serious trouble, including cutting jobs.
"We would continue to cut back, there would be less officers (and) navigation buoys," he said. "We're not going to stop doing our job, but maybe we can't do it as quick."
Packard, who has served on the Transportation Committee for 18 years, said he understands the desire for an increase.
"I'm aware of the problems in Marine Patrol and the need to take care of the lakes in the summer and everything, but in these economic times we can't justify raising them to this extent, if at all," he said. "People are hurting and any tax increase is maybe just ill-advised."
Wayne Johnson, vice president of sales for Rockingham Boat in Hampstead, agrees.
Johnson has been in the boating business for 20 years, and said he hasn't heard of any customers talking about the proposal yet — but he's sure he knows what they will say.
"Doubling the registration fees can get pretty costly," he said. "The state is going overboard."
Johnson said he'll start spreading the word about the possible increases because he believes it will happen.
"I think that everything is going to be increasing in fees because of the deficits and budgets the state's trying to overcome," he said. "I doubt they'll get away with doubling it, but thinking they're going to add 25 percent on what it costs now, they'll probably get away with it."
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