Oregon State Marine Board outlines budget pressures, proposes fee and staffing changes in HB 5021 hearing

The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Natural Resources held a public hearing Feb. 17 on House Bill 5021, the governor's recommended budget for the Oregon State Marine Board. Kendra Beck of the Department of Administrative Services Chief Financial Office presented the budget overview and Marine Board officials answered committee questions about revenue trends, proposed spending, and several policy packages included in the governor's recommendation.

The Marine Board told the committee the agency is “overall in a healthy position” going into the 2025–27 biennium but faces emerging revenue and cost pressures. ‘‘While the Marine Board is overall in a healthy position going into the 2527 biennium, there are 2 emerging issues facing the agency,’’ Kendra Beck said, noting that revenue from boat registrations and fuel tax transfers is the agency’s principal funding source and that motorized boat registrations have begun to decline.

The decline in registrations and rising costs matter because about 81% of the board’s other-fund revenue comes from registration/titling and the marine fuel tax. Christy Cornish, the Marine Board’s business services manager, told the committee registration and titling bring in roughly $18 million and the fuel tax about $11.8 million in the agency’s 2025 baseline. She also described recent price increases for facility construction: a 20-foot boarding-dock section cost roughly $15,000 in 2020, about $30,000 in 2023 and $38,000 in 2024, and asphalt prices more than doubled in five years.

Why it matters: the board distributes most of its money as grants and contracts. Cornish said special payments account for about 61% of the budget, personal services about 29% and supplies/IT about 10%. Law enforcement and facilities together are more than 70% of the agency’s budget, with marine law enforcement about $18 million and facilities about $13.1 million in the proposed budget.

Revenue, grants and balances

Director Larry Warren said the board under‑projected a recent fuel tax transfer tied to a four‑year fuel use survey; that…