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Division details ~$12M in OHV revenues, law-enforcement spending and proposed snowmobile fee increases
Summary
Staff told the advisory council the OHV restricted account has averaged about $12 million in recent years, reviewed FY2025 spending (law enforcement, grooming, trail crew, education), and announced a Dec. 2 public hearing on proposed snowmobile registration increases to help cover grooming costs.
Rachel Toker and Jason Curry presented an expanded financial briefing on the OHV restricted account, explaining how revenue flows into dedicated and nondedicated buckets and how funds are used for law enforcement, grooming, trail crews, education and grants. Rachel summarized FY2023–FY2025 revenue and said the program has been "pretty consistent across the board, totaling out to about $12,000,000." Jason explained that some funds are legislatively appropriated (dedicated) and some are discretionary (non‑dedicated), and that personnel and grant appropriations may be split across accounts.
Rachel gave a FY2025 law-enforcement breakout: budgeted $3.3 million but actual spending was $2.2 million, covering seasonal wages, uniform/PPE, motor pool costs, and equipment purchases (Rachel cited $81,000 for six trailers and two KTM motorcycles). Grooming costs were roughly $786,000 in FY2025, with Wade noting recurring MOUs (parking-lot clearing and other grooming) could add about $100,000 to next year’s costs.
Trail crews receive approximately $400,000 from the OHV account each year and work is reported daily via assignment dashboards; Jason said the full trail-crew program totals about $1.3 million with the remainder funded from Outdoor Adventure or other accounts. Rachel said the OHV Recreation Grant pool for FY2026 is about $4.4 million and that since 2020 the division has executed only one grant clawback after working with the grantee.
Wade announced a public hearing on Dec. 2 at 2:00 p.m. on proposed snowmobile fee changes to help offset grooming: increase resident registration from $22 to the statutory maximum of $26 and raise nonresident fee from $30 to $35. He said the snowmobile community has agreed to the change and staff intend the revenue to flow back into grooming.
Multiple public commenters pressed for greater transparency in appropriations and questioned the scale of law-enforcement spending relative to trail crews and grants. A former council member recounted historical allocation percentages and observed law‑enforcement share had risen in recent years; Jason and Wade explained the creation of the consolidated Division of Law Enforcement and legislative appropriations changed baseline budgets and that some budgeted amounts are not automatically spent unless supported by receipts and work logs. Several council members recommended the division circulate appropriation spreadsheets and more detailed reconciliation to the advisory council before legislative submittals.
The council asked staff to keep publishing regional trail-crew reports and a grants dashboard; staff said they would continue refining numbers and follow up with more precise fund-balance and asset-tracking reports.
