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State Parks previews three agency-request bills on snow-bike rules, nonresident fees and earned interest
Summary
Agency staff told commissioners they plan three agency-request proposals: require converted 'snow bikes' to register as snowmobiles, tighten nonresident snowmobile registration, and seek a statute to let certain user‑fee accounts keep earned interest (PRSA). Staff will refine fiscal notes and coordinate with Department of Licensing and OFM before September submission.
State Parks staff on July 8 briefed the commission on three agency‑request legislative concepts staff expect to submit for possible inclusion in the governor’s packet. Brian Considine, the agency’s external and legislative relations director, said the proposals are intended to shore up user funding and address equity concerns between residents and nonresidents.
“For the first proposal…if you're gonna have a snow bike, you must register it as snowmobile because…we're gonna go into with the assumption that you're gonna probably use it at one of our snow parks,” Considine said, framing the change as a way to align registrations with park use and ensure users contribute to maintenance. Staff told commissioners the registration itself would carry the current snowmobile fee (approximately $55) and that the Department of Licensing (DOL) must confirm counts and system changes before a firm fiscal estimate is available.
Considine said a second related bill would remove the current 15‑consecutive‑day nonresident exemption for snowmobile users, which staff and user groups describe as difficult to enforce and unfair to resident users who pay for snow‑park maintenance. He cautioned commissioners that DOL must confirm how a nonresident requirement could be implemented, and that the proposal might be delayed if DOL cannot operationalize it in time.
The third concept revives a 2024 approach to let specified agency revenue accounts (notably the Parks Renewal and Stewardship Account, PRSA) retain interest earned on their balances rather than routing that interest into the state general fund. Considine said the agency’s 2024 fiscal note estimated the change could produce “a couple million dollars a year” for parks and that staff will update calculations and produce a draft fiscal note for the commission in August.
Commissioners pressed for additional details — including which accounts would be added, precise fiscal estimates, and examples of other state accounts that keep earned interest — and asked staff to bring updated fiscal notes and DOL feedback when the proposals return to the commission for formal approval later this summer.
