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Committee advances bill to charge $5 per rented snowmobile to fund grooming; Fish, Wildlife & Parks to administer grants
Summary
Senate Bill 165 would add a $5 fee to snowmobile rentals to support grooming grants to local clubs. Proponents said tourists and rental users overload groomed trails; Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff said collected funds would be distributed by the existing grant process. Committee voted to pass the bill.
Senator Barry Usher described Senate Bill 165 as a narrowly targeted measure to add a $5 fee to each rented snowmobile, with revenue allocated to grooming grants for local snowmobile clubs. Supporters said tourism-driven rentals have increased trail wear in areas such as West Yellowstone and Seeley Lake and that rental companies had been left out of the existing trail-pass program.
Fred Bailey, president of the Montana Snowmobile Association, said the fee is intended to "supplement the grooming" where rental-driven use is high and that the funds collected in a given area would be directed back to clubs serving that area. "That money that's collected will go back to those same areas that it was collected so that it will stay with the clubs that have the most use from the tourism," Bailey said.
Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff and an assistant administrator for parks and recreation attended as informational witnesses and described the administration plan: rental businesses would remit collected fees to Fish, Wildlife & Parks, which would distribute funds through the current snowmobile-grant allocation process to clubs based on reported rentals and local need. Committee members asked about vendor reporting, distribution mechanics and whether administrative commissions would be taken; witnesses said the bill language would require vendors to remit revenue directly and that the existing grant process would govern disbursement.
The fiscal-note estimates cited by proponents and staff suggested roughly $380,000 per year in new annual revenue for grooming grants in heavy-use areas; proponents said the figure would greatly help clubs that currently rely on donated fuel and fundraising to cover grooming costs.
The committee moved SB 165 forward in executive action that day.
