Mussel fee/decal
 

Hi all,

Apparently there is a new way for CA to make some money off boaters:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/boatsinfo/qzmip_program.htm

I didn't really mind at first until I realized Nevada also requires a similar fee/decal for both resident and non-resident boaters. The fees are minimal but the irratating part is having to slap more decals on the boat:

http://www.ndow.org/Boat/Aquatic_Inv...l_Information/

I'll get over the decals eventually... Has anyone in Nevada, specifically Lake Mead or Mohave run into issues not having this decal? I spent a lot of time on Mohave in 2013 and never had a problem. I didn't even know that Nevada required this all of last year.

I'm up around Reno and had the decal in my glove compartment, I didn't put it on the boat.
We'll just say that this year it will be on the side of the boat..

Yep I just got mine. I think they are running out of ways to get money. We have a boat luxury tax, just for owning a boat and even a gas guzzler tax for our tow vehicles. What's going to be next?

Can someone explain how the "Luxury Tax" was justified.
I can understand registration fees, the money would (or should) go to water ways and boating specific causes. Example your boat reg fees should pay for your local public ramps and the water police ect.

Where does the money for Luxury Tax go? Where are these funds being used!

I guess I'm all backwards in my thinking. Because I think I should get a TAX Break. For buying a boat NOT penalized. When you buy a boat think about the trickle down money you spend that you wouldn't spend if you just stuck your money in the bank!!

All the gear you buy= sales tax
The parts you buy and the service money=sales tax
You go and drop a 5k stereo in your boat=Sales tax
You go to the store and spend Money for food and Booze for the day on the water
=sales dollars

All this money that gets pushed around because you chose to buy a boat and outfit it and use it. It's all money that is in circulation. Eveytime you spend a dollar the state gets 10c. All the state should be doing is getting people to spend more money. That's tax $ that just comes to them for nothing

Basically, it's CA saying that since you live Beyond normal means, aka: you can afford to own a boat, they tax you for it. I believe it is only if your boat is stored at your residence, but I forgot the exact details. I honestly think that is the way its going here. If you own items that the average household does not, you will pay taxes for it.

Same thing goes for heavy vehicle tax. They tax a vehicle above a certain GVWR saying that it ruins roads.

I think that its more of the environmentalist groups pushing the government to add all these taxes to stop excess pollution and try to push businesses out of the state.

Best way to handle this is to repeat the boaters mantra: A boat is a hole in the water into which one throws money.

^ I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter where you store it. Mine is stored at a ministorage and I still pay the luxury tax.
However I don't understand it either. So are people paying "luxury" taxes on dirtbikes, motorcycles, RV's, trailers, hell may as well throw any Audi, BMW or Benz owners in there too since it would be a "luxury" to drive one of those everyday.

I hate this state more and more everyday. I was pretty shocked when the DMV handed me my "mussel inspection" stickers last week. I hadn't even heard of that before. People are buying $100k boats and they want you to slap a 4"x4" green and red sticker on the side so everyone knows you paid your mussel fee.... Cmon!

Keeping invasive species out of our lakes is an expensive task. I guess that everyone with a boat thinks that people who can't afford a boat should pay to control the invasive species that boaters transfer from one lake to another.