Proposed Assembly Bill 1950: Abandoned boats

Y

yzer

Active member
Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2004
RO Number
14523
Messages
1,924
I think this is a great idea. What makes you think such legislation would mean more "boat taxes" (whatever those are)?
 
"The Department of Boating and Waterways promotes on-the-water safety and helps develop convenient public access to the waterways through programs funded by vessel registration fees, boating fuel tax dollars and boating facility construction loan payments."

DBW expenditures for the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund is $500K per year. 100% of this expenditure is a transfer from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account, Transportation Tax Fund. Boaters pay extra tax into this fund just because they are boaters. That's one of the reasons marina fuel is so expensive.

Fines leveed on parties held responsible for abandoned boats are supposed to help defray expeditures from the Abandoned Watercraft Fund. In reality, these fines don't go seem to go directly into this fund. I can't find a line item for it unless it's the miniscule $42K per year that DWB lists as revenue from License Fees and Penalties.

Why should taxpayers have to pay for towing junker boats from a driveway or marina to the salvage yard? We don't do that for cars or trucks. Shouldn't owners of worthless boats they be held responsible for their own property?

The current $500 minimum fine for abandoning a boat is a joke. Doubling it to $1000 is still a joke, just not as funny. There are littering fines stiffer than that. Given the odds that you will not get caught, the chance of getting a fine like this looks like an economical alternative to disposing of the old tub properly.
 
I bet CA tries to rob from the DBW Fund again this year to help other dept budgets! About every other year Parks and Rec tries to get more money from the DBW. Every year a certain amount automatically goes to P&D's budget already. I forget the amount. Whenever there is a budget shortfall, they come abeggin'! We boaters usually have to do a writing campaign to get our lawmakers to block this action.

yzer, have you heard/seen anything about this thievery yet this year?
 
They can fine them as much as they want. Collecting on the fines is another thing. It would probably cost the tax payers more to try and collect the fines than the actual revenue realized by the fines.
 
I think this is a great idea, and worth whatever it costs.

A while back I was talking to the ownwer of one of boat repair yards. At the time I had an old wooden hulled boat that I wanted to have hauled out and worked on. The boat yard was relucatant to haul the boat out until I put up a sizeable deposit. The yard was concerned because if they haul the boat out, then the owner finds out it is going to cost more than the boat is worth to fix it he might abandon it in the yard. Now the yard is stuck with it. Just getting the paperwork to legally destroy the boat is a hassle but the biggest problem is that the junk gets classified as "hazardous waste" which costs a lot to properly dispose of.

If the boat isn't hauled out then the owner will have to do something else with it. I can't think of any other alternative other than to abandon it. Now the boat sinks and all the fuel and oil contaminate the water. If it becomes a hazard the authoraties will have to pay a LOT to have the wreck raised and hauled off. It will probably be hauled to the same yard that the owner was turned away from except now the state is covering all expenses.

If the state had provided the yard with a minimum coverage for expenses for disposing of the boat when the owner brought it in then it could have been dealt with much easier, with much less overall expense and without polluting the water in the process.

We are going to pay the bill one way or another. Might as well make life easier on everyone, including the fish.

Rod
 
Another problem happens at the marinas. Joe Exboater has a dog of boat that won't run anymore, he can't sell it and flakes out on his slip rental, abandoning the boat at the slip. After the marina goes through a lengthy process they take title of the boat on a lien. Unless they sell it or give it away then the marina is stuck with disposing of the boat properly or dragging it out to Mayberry Slough some foggy night. That nasty old fiberglass hulk is going to stay there forever unless somebody drags it out.

It's not easy to salvage these abandoned boats legally. It takes time to go through the paperwork. The salvage operator must own the the title prior to removal so they are responsible for any environmental complications that can happen during salvage, like fuel leakage.

I'm OK with the abandoned boat part of this deal. But, I'm still irked by the idea that any boat owner can just go a Sheriff, surrender title to the boat and have it removed and landfilled at taxpayer expense. Seems to me that they should have to prove a financial need first.

I not quite ready to accept this as the same as paying the city for recycling or garbage service. That is a service that is paid for voluntarily. Then again, maybe it is the same thing.

Here is what CDBW has to say about boat disposal.

http://www.dbw.ca.gov/Environmental/vesdispose.aspx

Vessel Assist, Bishop Diving and Salvage and Salt Water Construction are two of the boat recyclers and salvage companies that serve the Bay & Delta.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top