Revision: Feb. 23, 2011, midnight
SB 128-FN-A – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
10/09
SENATE BILL 128-FN-A
AN ACT establishing a fee on occupancy of sleeping accommodations of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Randolph Mountain Club to fund search and game rescue operations of the fish and game department.
SPONSORS: Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Gallus, Dist 1; Rep. Chandler, Carr 1; Rep. Mirski, Graf 10
COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources
This bill establishes a hiker fee imposed on persons occupying sleeping accommodations of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Randolph Mountain Club. The fees collected are deposited in the fish and game search and rescue fund for the purpose of search and rescue operations of the fish and game department.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0418
10/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT establishing a fee on occupancy of sleeping accommodations of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Randolph Mountain Club to fund search and game rescue operations of the fish and game department.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Fish and Game Search and Rescue; Hiker Fee Established. Amend RSA 206 by inserting after section 42 the following new section:
206:43 Hiker Fee.
I.(a) A hiker fee of $3 is hereby imposed on the rent charged upon each occupant at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC) lodges, huts, camps, and cabins offering sleeping accommodations to the public.
(b) For purposes of this section, “rent” shall be defined as the consideration received for occupancy of sleeping accommodations valued in money, whether received in money or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, and credits.
(c) The AMC and RMC shall collect the hiker fee of $3 from each occupant charged rent and shall account such fees received to the executive director of the fish and game department for deposit in the fish and game search and rescue fund established in RSA 206:42. The AMC and RMC shall pay to the executive director no later than the fourteenth of each month the full value of all hiker fees collected up to the first of the same month and shall report the names and addresses of all persons to whom a hiker fee has been charged.
(1) When the fourteenth of any month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the accounting and payment due date will be advanced to the first succeeding day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday.
(2) If the accounting and payment required in this section are mailed, the payments shall be considered to have been reported or paid on time if they are properly addressed and postmarked by a United States Post Office no later than the fourteenth of the month in which they are due.
(3) If the accounting and payment required by this section are delinquent, the agent shall be assessed and pay a penalty equal to 10 percent of the amount due or $10, whichever is greater. Penalties collected hereunder shall be credited to the fish and game search and rescue fund.
II. The executive director shall have the authority to waive the requirements of subparagraph I(c) when in his or her judgment there is just cause to do so.
III. When the executive director, in his or her discretion, deems it necessary to protect the revenues to be obtained under this section, the executive director may, after notice and hearing, require any agent required to collect the hiker fee imposed by this section to file with the department a bond issued by a surety company authorized by the New Hampshire insurance department to do business in this state, in an amount fixed by the executive director to secure the payment of any fee, interest, or penalties due, or which may become due. The agent shall file a bond within 10 days after the fish and game department has issued and mailed such notice. Surety bonds may be required in situations such as, but not limited to, failure to file accountings, failure to make payments at the time required by law, tender by an agent of checks returned for insufficient funds, failure to pay interest and penalties assessed, and any other situation which, in the discretion of the executive director renders the collection of the hiker fee in jeopardy.
2 Search and Rescue Fund; Purposes. Amend RSA 206:42 to read as follows:
206:42 Fish and Game Search and Rescue Fund. The additional fee of $1 collected under the provisions of RSA 270-E:5, II(b) for each private boat registered, under RSA 215-A:23, X for each OHRV registered, and under RSA 215-C:39, XI for each snowmobile registered, and the hiker fee imposed under RSA 206:43, shall be paid over to the state treasurer who shall keep such fees in a special fund to be expended by the fish and game department for use in search and rescue operations. The special fund shall be nonlapsing. All funds received under this subdivision are continually appropriated to the fish and game department for the purposes of [this subdivision] funding search and rescue operations, including but not limited to salaries, training, equipment, and associated expenditures. The fish and game department shall report to the fiscal committee on a quarterly basis beginning on October 1, 1989, on the expenditures made from the fund.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.
LBAO
11-0418
01/04/11
SB 128-FN-A - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing a fee on occupancy of sleeping accommodations of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Randolph Mountain Club to fund search and game rescue operations of the fish and game department.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department states this bill will increase state restricted revenues by $270,447 and state restricted expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2012 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenues or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
This bill establishes a $3.00 hiker fee imposed on persons occupying sleeping accommodations of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC). The bill allocates fees collected to the fish and game search and rescue fund for the purpose of supporting search and rescue operations of the Fish and Game Department.
The Fish and Game Department assumes that the fee authorized in the proposed legislation would be paid on a per night basis and not a per stay basis. The AMC reports an average number of “bed nights” of 86,785 per year while the RMC reports an average of 3,364. This results in a total of approximately 90,149 bed nights per annum or $270,447 in state restricted revenues per year (90,149 x $3.00).
The Department also notes the proposed legislation requires the AMC and RMC to provide names and addresses of lodgers when remitting the revenues derived from the fee to the Department. This will create a demand on the data entry capabilities of the Department as well as a need for data base design services from the Department of Information Technology. The Department states they are unable to determine the extent to which this requirement will increase state restricted expenditures.