DNR discusses boatlift fee with Moses Lake

Confusion continues over fee

MOSES LAKE - Confusion over state boatlift fees drew state Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland to Moses Lake Wednesday.

More than 40 people met with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) representatives to discuss the recently enforced annual $175 boatlift permit fee.

The meeting was initially intended to be private but when the information about the meeting was discovered by the community, several concerned citizens attended.

Sutherland said the Wednesday meeting should have been held a year ago to inform people about the new fee to avoid the confusion amongst boatlift owners.

Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, said within an hour of the first boatlifts being tagged with notices requesting payment and authorization, her office was flooded with concerned phone calls.

She said several people were confused because they thought she and Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, were to blame for the fee. Warnick said they were not involved with creating the fee and introduced legislation in 2006 to exclude Moses Lake residents. The legislation failed without a hearing.

Sutherland said there will be at least one additional public meeting in Moses Lake to continue discussion, but a date was not set.

As citizens introduced themselves in a

meeting room at the Grant County International Airport, several described themselves as upset, almost angry, disgruntled taxpayers.

DNR Aquatic Lands Steward Fran McNair said 146 boatlifts were tagged June 18 with notices requiring them to be authorized for use on Moses Lake.

"This was a surprise that we hadn't anticipated, so we're sorry about that," she said about the confusion over the fee.

The Board of Natural Resources gave authorization to collect fees in 2006. They didn't begin collection until one person who lives on the lake contacted DNR wanting to authorize their boatlift, McNair said.

Notices were only issued on Moses Lake.

The complaint was boatlifts built after the 2006 decision to charge annual fees were the only ones being targeted. She said the person complained that older boatlifts were not being tagged and did not want to pay the fine because it was unfair so DNR decided to require all boatlifts to be authorized.

"I think it's kind of comical that you have one person who wasn't going to pay so you ticket everyone on the lake," Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, said.

Due to a failure of communication between DNR and affected boatlift owners, they are postponing further enforcement of the permit, McNair said. One person on Moses Lake already paid the fee and is authorized while four people are awaiting authorization.

The $175 permit fee only covers administrative costs of recording where the boatlifts are located, Aquatic Resources Division Manager Rich Doenges said. An additional $25 fee is required to file the permit.

The DNR requires the $175 fee annually, but McFair said boatlift owners can pay for four years and receive a fifth year for free.

Bill Boyd asked what makes a boatlift unauthorized.

Anything DNR doesn't have a record of is not authorized, McNair said. When a property owner obtains permits from the city and county to have the boatlift, they still need to get a permit with DNR.

Hinkle said enforcing the permit fee causes a duplication of efforts. He said the county and the city already manage the placement of boatlifts. He suggested DNR delegate the responsibility to the county and cities.

Doenges said DNR has the authority to permit private use of public lands. The intent of the permit is to regulate where boatlifts are placed to ensure they do not encroach on other people's space. DNR would be ignoring their job if they did not authorize uses of public land, he said.

Boatlifts and docks cause similar disruptions but the difference between the two is how they are each authorized with boatlifts requiring a fee and each homeowner allowed a single recreational dock and mooring buoy for free, he said.

The difference is artificial and boatlifts are tagged because the law allows them to do so, Doenges said.

Hinkle said DNR has the authority to write regulations to treat them the same to avoid the fee. He said the permit fee does not benefit anyone and no service is provided in exchange for the money.

Sutherland said the only way to eliminate the permit is to change the legislation.

He said he and Warnick would work to change legislation so the DNR is not required to authorize or charge for boatlifts if Sutherland would agree to work with them.

Hinkle told DNR members to consider the crowd that would attend a similar meeting if other larger lakes in Washington were tagged, such as Lake Washington or Lake Union.

"We sometimes enact laws and we don't understand the impacts," he said.

Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District (MLIRD) representative Curt Carpenter said the district is responsible for managing water up to the 1,038-foot elevation mark, set in the late 1880s. The lake surface is now 1,048 feet. He asked who owns the land and water above the 1,038-foot mark.

DNR was unable to answer his question at the meeting.

Assistant Attorney General Joe Panesko said the boundary of a body of water changes ownership depending upon how fast the water moves. He said if the water rescinds from the shoreline slowly, the property owner located on the water inherits the land. If the water moves away suddenly, like with the flood in 1904, the land is owned by the state.

Former state Sen. Harold Hochstatter said the lake elevation gradually raised 10 feet to an elevation of 1,048 from 1897 to 1904. He questioned the boundary of the state's ownership and plans to provide documentation about the gradual increase to DNR. If correct, it would show the boatlifts are on private land and not in state DNR territory.

Warnick said she suspects she and Hinkle will be working on more legislation in the future to prevent the boatlift fee.