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Warnick and Hinkle propose to end boat lift fees
After hearing from numerous constituents, Reps.
Judy
Warnick
and Bill Hinkle
today introduced a bill that would allow Moses Lake residents to own
boat lifts and not be charged a fee.
In June 2008, dozens of residents contacted the 13th District
legislators with concerns about being charged fees for having boat lifts
on Moses Lake.
"They didn't understand why they would be charged to have a lift on
their own waterfront," said Warnick, R-Moses Lake. "Because the lake
shore is considered state-owned aquatic land, the state was allowed in
statute to collect fees on the boat lifts. The problem was, they had not
been collecting the fees until June 2008, and citizens were not made
aware of the fee until they were served notice of a possible violation.
We talked with the former Commissioner of Public Lands to waive the fee
until we got this sorted out. So now we're in Olympia and we're trying
to make the lifts exempt from fees."
House Bill 1750 allows citizens to install and maintain boat lifts
or docks, if they are used for purely recreational purposes. Any boats
moored could not be used for commercial or living uses.
“I guess I’m just getting tired, frankly, of the government taxing
citizens for the ‘right’ to do this or that, or the ‘right’ to use their
own property,” said Hinkle, R-Cle Elum. “I appreciate the former
commissioner of public lands being willing to waive the fee until a more
permanent solution is found. This needs to be a legislative fix and we
need to do it this year.”
The bill has been referred to the Ecology and Parks Committee, a hearing
has not yet been scheduled. Information to come if a hearing is
scheduled.
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For more information, contact:
Sarah Lamb, Public Information
Officer - (360) 786-7720
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