Posted by Hey Everyone!
Our Registration and Trail Pass Fee Increase proposal did not pass this past session and we will continue to pursue it with our legislators. The campaign season is under full swing! All state assembly representatives and 17 of the 33 state senators are up for re-election, as well as the Governor’s Office. There will be a lot of campaigning that will take place this summer and fall. Please take the time to talk to your candidates about why we need these increases… I am listing the proposal and the reasons below;
Our Club (AWSC) Pass will go from $10 to $20.
The Non-Club Member (DNR) Pass will go from $30 to $50.
The Out of State Pass will go from $50 to $70.
Our Snowmobile Registrations would be raised from $30 for 3 Years to $45 for 3 years.
The reasoning is simple….
We have not had snowmobile registration and trail pass fee increase since the 2013 season, when Act 142, our Trail Pass Program was enacted. That was over 13 years ago… and we all know what kind of inflation we have seen since that time!
All of the additional funds that are raised, get deposited into our Segregated Trail Aids Fund (Seg Fund). We have seen the projects that were approved for funding double in cost since the 2014-2015 season. We are not keeping up with the infrastructure grants needed to maintain our 1700 structures included in our funded trail system. This last year, we were nearly $4 million dollars short of funding the project requests put in by our clubs and alliances. This is the 4th season in a row that we have had this type of a financial shortfall. We cannot sustain our trail system under these financial conditions. (Had this increase been in place this past season, we would not have had a project funding shortfall at all.)
Our volunteer organizations have seen equipment prices of both new and used grooming power units and drags that our clubs need to maintain our trails, have increased between 60% and 100% since Act 142 was enacted. Needed parts and repairs to their current equipment have also increased by similar proportions. The clubs and county alliances have not seen any increase in maintenance and grooming rates for years, and those reimbursement rates have not kept up with inflation. That is not sustainable.
We have not had any additional miles of funded trails added for more than 7 years. There are still hundreds of miles of trails that are completely funded and maintained with zero reimbursements to our organizations.
Our program uses no taxpayer dollars. We, the users, riders and providers, are asking for this increase. Our current trail system will not be sustainable without passage of this bill.
Please contact your State Senator and Assembly Representative and ask them to support our upcoming request. If you need to know who they are, you can go to this link: https://legis.wisconsin.gov put your address in the “Who are my Legislators” box, and it will bring up who they are for the address you put in.
And as always.. THANKS TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS THAT MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Sam Landes
AWSC Director-Dane County
AWSC Legislative Committee Chair
Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs