Would You Support This Legislation?

[ollie]

I wish MO would have set-up the livery amount for rentals as well. Designate x amount of rentals only on one particular stream. It seems like every Joe who has waterfront property is trying to make a dime off rentals so the amount of traffic just keeps going up. I think people if forced to pay an extra tax would pay it, but it wouldn't go over very well.

[skeeter]

Based on the locations I'm seeing posted for those quickly replying "no", I respectfully doubt that they have witnessed, firsthand, weekend after weekend, the outright chaos, littering and thoroughly disgusting behavior taking place on the heavily floated streams adjacent to the St. Louis Metro area. It happens every Summer weekend and Holiday on the Mid and upper-Meramec, Huzzah, Courtois and extending in a lesser amount to the Black, Gasconade and Current watersheds. Most Saturdays and Sundays you can walk from bank to bank on rubber rafts and canoes and tubes loaded with littering, urinating, defecating drunks and dopers and never get your feet wet right after the multiple float liveries drop off their school bus loads of already inebriated floaters. I would never begin to take a young child on those streams at those times. Picture Party Cove at LOZ floating bank to bank down your precious streams and you have just a little idea of what goes on and then the next several busloads arrive upsteam, unload and launch and the next wave hits the water.

I'm definitely anti-tax but this abuse of the streams mentioned has got to be controlled in some way and that takes funding. Let those who are creating the problems pay for better, much-needed enforcement of laws on the books as the quoted "tourism taxes" just are not generating enough revenue for the needed oversight.

kevthebassman has a pretty good idea here and it will only affect those creating or profiting from the abuse. Again, you have to have seen it to believe how bad it gets.

[ozark trout fisher]

The state of Missouri is blessed with several absolutely beautiful spring fed rivers. The cool, clean water of these streams supports several species of highly sought after game fish. The fishermen who chase these fish pay the taxes that provides the money to patrol and enforce the law on these rivers.

Every summer, however, these rivers become party central, with hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of people converge on the rivers to take float trips, where some of them get drunk and rowdy, use the river as a bathroom, and leave trash strewn everywhere. The Water Patrol and game wardens get completely swamped during this time, there simply aren't enough of them (usually 2 per county) to patrol that many people.

Currently, there is no tax, aside from regular income taxes, levied on rentals at canoe liveries. No sales tax or anything. I think a $3 tax on every rental (which go for $30-50 per day), directed towards the enforcement of the law and litter cleanup on the waterways, would go a long way towards bringing some sanity back to the rivers between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It's time that the party crowd pull their own weight with regards to maintaining our state's waterways.

If you support this, will you join me in asking your elected officials to sponsor a bill to this effect?

I would be a big supporter of this. I think I might just write my legislator-but with the blanket hatred most have of any sort of taxes these days, I don't like the chance of it getting anywhere...Just a sad reality of the political climate now.

[Justin Spencer]

What I would like to see is a roll back on the numbers of canoes allowed on some rivers. I don't know what the formula would be, but some rivers need it

The Niangua is the one that most often comes to mind.

I think they should cut all the outfitters back by issuing permanent permits for X number of canoes and temporary for the rest. make the temporary perments good for 5 years or about that. This would give the outfitters time to make the adjustment.

I know some, like people who float the NFOW or the 11PT probably think that's a little harsh, but you should go give something like the Niangua a float on a summer Saturday and see what river chaos is.

I'm limited to 120 canoes at the Hammond Access on the NFoW. The outfitters on some of the bigger rivers might balk at that low a number, but it's really all I want to do, and seldom do I actually put in that many. Our own access there is no limit however.

As for the tax thing goes, outfitters already pay around 3% of our rentals to the Forest Service to put in on federal property, might start by asking where that money goes.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Justin I was at an outfitters place on the Niangua, waiting to take out our rig, and I counted 50 Rafts. I didn't have time to count canoes. It was a week day so they didn't have a lot of canoes out.

[Feathers and Fins]

Here is my concern, why are you wanting to limit business men and restrict them and force more regulations on them? You dont think JOE B will go buy a canoe or a raft or inner tube and just float anyway.

I hate the idea of hurting small business that without those very people might themselves be out of business. Bad Idea to regulate the livery's, Bad Idea to tax them more.

If you are serious about it the only way to be fair and honest is require everyone who uses the river to buy a three dollar river enjoyment stamp.. See how well that goes over. But dont harm our small business's.

[Jerry Rapp]

fishermen always want things favored in their way, and you can bet the floaters, tubers, rafters, partiers want things favored in their way. They would probably want to see the fishermen go away. It is a two way street. Should there be more enforcement on the rivers. Sure, if the partiers did what they did on the water in general public 75% would be arrested. Should there be a tax to pay for more enforcement? IMHO, no, we are taxed to death. What needs to be done is way more sensible spending by our elected officials. For example, is stocking Elk a better expense than keeping the rivers under control? Before someone jumps me saying MDC can't control the partiers on the river, that same money they use for Elk comes from the same state. That same state's govt could allocate that money to MSWP, etc. to help enforce the rivers instead of stocking some animals. I am off the soap box now. Carry on.

[ness]

Age old problem and Gavin hit the nail on the head. MO has a very generous allocation for conservation from the dedicated sales tax collected statewide. They've got a ton of money, they just don't choose to spend it on enforcement.

NObody likes the knuckleheads.

[Stoneroller]

I will refer you to california and illinois as current case studies in how increasing the number of law enforcement personnel not only increases the state debt but does absolutely nothing to reduce crime.

It does increase the prison population though, which in turn increases the number of law enforcement officials, which increases the state debt, in the house that jack built...

[taxidermist]

No way to many taxes as it is! MO gets 1/8th of a cent right? Time to get rid of taxes taxes and more taxes.