Bill would close loophole on snowmobile stickers

A  Bozeman legislator has proposed a bill to increase state funding for grooming Montana’s snowmobile trails, which are seeing increased use.

House Bill 300, sponsored by Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, will be heard by the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks committee on Feb. 5.

Montana State Parks administers the state’s snowmobile program, which distributes funds collected from registration fees to 27 snowmobile clubs that are members of the Montana Snowmobile Association.

The clubs groom trails primarily on Forest Service land, post trail signs and provide safety education. Most clubs receive less than $20,000, but grants up to $75,000 have been awarded. State Park grants this year totaled more than $388,000 to groom the almost 4,000 miles of snowmobile trails in Montana.

The number of registered snowmobiles in Montana has increased from about 22,000 to nearly 60,000 in 10 years, according to the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana. The report showed that residents spent more than $96 million on snowmobile-related expenses last year, about double what was spent eight years ago.

Currently, however, snowmobile owners pay one time for a snowmobile registration that’s good for the entire time they own the machine. And when people sell snowmobiles with the registration stickers still attached, the new owner doesn’t have to pay.

White says he wants the grooming program to benefit from some of that spending. He proposes creating an $18 trail pass good for three years. That would avoid the loophole created by a permanent sticker. The proposed sticker could also be used for sled bikes and fat-tire pedal bikes on groomed trails.

A fiscal note for HB 300  says the proposed sticker could bring in more than $393,000 in the first year, fall to about $36,000 over the next two years and then increase again.