GIVE ME A BREAK

[boaterntexas]

It is an outrage! It took me 4 months and over $200.00 to register my boat and motor in texas, Had to trace the papper, do this do that. You would not believe the hoops I had to jump through, the trail and error, the rude approach at the tax office. Registering this old 17 foot boat, was more hassel that it should be, You tyr to do the right thing and they make it hard to do so. I thought this was just me, but no I have talked with several people around here with the same problem. where I live texarkana a city that borders texas and arkansas its not umcommon to buy a boat from one state and and register it in another. If I would had known the time, and expense it was going to take to register this boat, I would had never bought an out of state boat.<br /> My question is : is this only in texas or is it common all across america. My brother inlaw bought an out of state 99 Chevy tahoe for 15,000 walked in the tax offcie with a bill of sale and was out in ten minutes with TT&L all taken care of. Should it really be this hard to register a boat. while I was in there the was a man with a very old aluminum boat with no motor, he was having a much more difficult time than I had, becuase he couldn't get a pencil eching of his HID somethign his boat probaly doesn't even have. My legistlator will defenitly get a letter. Will yours?<br /><br /> Sorry just had to vent I feel much better now thank for taken the time to read this<br /><br /> pissed in texas,<br /> Thomas

 

[12Footer]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

I feel your pain way over here in the sunshine state!!<br />I had a 4-visit quantlet to run thru here, and the boat was originally registered in Florida, by family, and up-to-date!<br />I literally had to get the trailer re-weighed to get a tag on it. So, I guess many states have these obstacle courses called "DMV". It reminds me of the Primus song that goes something like, "How do I spell trouble? I spell it 'D.M.V.'- <br />And if you've ever been there, know exactly what I mean".<br />"Stand in line for hours, smelling seas of cheese.And if I had my druthers,, I'd Sc-ew a chimpanzee, Call it.......Pointlessss".<br />

 

[Squirt]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

I'm in TN and got a boat a month ago in GA. I went to my DMV and had to pay them $1 for the transfer fee, then send the TWRA $20. I am glad that I didn't have the problems ya'll did...Squirt

 

[skiffer]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

I live in Massachusetts. I just bought a new boat, motor and trailer. The boat and trailer were purchased in Rhode Island.<br /><br />I went to my insurance company to get trailer insurance before registering it. It took about 5 minutes and the cost was $0. Apparently my auto insurance covers the boat also.<br /><br />Then I went to the registry to register the trailer and get plates. I walked in the door and was greeted by a "greeter" with flowers on her desk. She gave me a ticket. I sat on a bench watching a newsreel in front of the customer waiting room for about 20 minutes until my number was called. The process of getting a new title for the trailer, plates and registration took about 5 minutes and cost $15.<br /><br />I haven't done the boat yet. I called the boat registry people to see what was involved and got an answering machine. I left a message and guess what? About half an hour later someone returned my call. Can you believe this? A state clerk actually returned my call. I was told it would cost $45 for title and registration, plus sales tax. She also said tracing the hull ID number isn't necessary if it's on the bill of sale, which it is.<br /><br />Now I think this really isn't a bad deal. It used to be a lot worse. You know why it's so much better now? Because Massachusetts has had a Republican governor for the past 10 years. As soon as we threw those #$@%! Socialist Democrats out, the state government did a U turn. <br /><br />Sorry to be so long winded and political with this tale, but the moral is - who you vote into office does make a difference.<br /><br />Skiffer

 

[DJ]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

boater,<br /><br />I think your troubles came from the fact that your boat didn't have an HID#. But, it's still a hassle.<br /><br />We want these clowns to handle our health care?

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

I feel your frustration. And no, you yanks, the problem is not Democrats, or Socialists. Here in Tejas the problem is TOO MUCH INFILTRATION from outside the national borders of Tejas. Every politician you run out of your state migrates to Texas and brings his family/friends with him...gets elected and starts to screw up our simple traditions with bureaucratic paperwork, nonesense and taxes, taxes,taxes,taxes. You should brand them before you kick em out so we know where to send em by return mail once we get them shackeled.

 

[skiffer]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

Duuh - name a politician besides George Bush the elder who migrated from Massachusetts to Texas? You still owe us for LBJ.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

Skiff,<br />there are 254 counties in tejas, including mine. do you want the list to start locally, regionally, or just statewide? let me know. and by the way, LBJ was not a political refugee...MASS helped elect him.

 

[skiffer]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

-----------------------------------------<br />"You should brand them before you kick em out so we know where to send em by return mail once we get them shackeled. "<br />-----------------------------------------<br /><br />Tim:<br /><br />We'll brand them if you promise not to send them back. Mail them to Cuba!<br /><br />Give us a break, we're doing our best to clean the place up here. It's like flushing rats out of a nest, they run and hide everywhere - can't help it if some make their way to Texas.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

I live on the border of Wi. and Mn. I just bought a boat from Mn. and registered it here in Wi no problems.

 

[C17LoadSmasher]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

In SC anyone can have a boat. No licensing or anything. Registering is a breeze. Trailers aren't even registered. This state is scary when it comes to vehicles - surprising what many ppl get away with.

 

[martyscher]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

Sound's like a real drag boater, but I'm not sure why anyone's surprised, or what we would write our legislator about.<br /><br />Boats are taxable entities in nearly every state, so it's in the state's best interest to attempt to rightfully establish ownership and taxable value.<br /><br />Your relative had no problem registering his out-of-state vehicle, but surely he had a valid vehicle title.<br /><br />It's usually a bigger problem with older boats, since some never had proper registrations, or or the paperwork is long gone.<br /><br />We, the people, probably created a large part of this mess ourselves. Stolen boats are everywhere. There are probably an abundance of private sales, where the buyer fraudulently understates the purchase (taxable)price when registering. High boat-tax state residents, like California, often have their million $$ yachts, fraudulently registered in lower tax states, like Ohio, to avoid taxes.<br /><br />I guess you can take heart in that you will never have to go though it again <br /><br />NOW GO BOATING

 

[MrBill]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

Boaterntx & skiffer: Ifeel pain for both of you...like skiffer I reside in MA but have a lake-side camp in New Hampshire. I've dealt with MA Motor Vehicle Department for over 30 years, as recently as last week...and it ain't fun.. I get disgusted when I hear "You'll have to..."...no I don't have to! When I go to the New Hampshire DMV for my watercraft they ask me "what can I do to assist you today?" They know that they are there for one purpose.. to serve me.

 

[skiffer]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

MrBill:<br /><br />A friend of mine told me about his neighbor who lives in Winchester, MA. He has a summer home in New Hampshire, but his year-round residence is MA. He registered his cars in New Hampshire to avoid the sales tax. A neighbor saw the NH plates in his driveway and called the Registry. The police came down and took him away in handcuffs with the entire neighborhood watching!

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

that's exactly what we all should write our legislators about...tax tyranny. in the revolution days it was taxation without representation. nowadays it is taxation with representation ignored or conveniently overridden by corruption and money under the table. can you say amerika, with a K? my chosen form(s) of recreation should not be taxable entities, IMHO.

 

[jeffmock]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

Hey Tim,<br />Texas may have several ex-northern politicians but the South got even when The Clintons moved to New York. Can you imagine what the neighbors thought!

 

[dansoph]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

hey skiffer are you kidding me ? this state is screwed up because of republicans !!!!!!!!! mitt can go back to salt lake city ! we union workers can't get a job because of him !

 

[skiffer]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

Man I'm glad I don't live in them states.<br />Here in Kentucky, you walk in with your paperwork and out the door you go with the stuff.<br />Don't register trailers here either.

 

[skiffer]

Re: GIVE ME A BREAK

The only reason they make us register everything is so they can collect the sales tax - 5%. <br /><br />Once on a warm summer Sunday afternoon I was anchored in my Tartan 30 in a cove off the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. There were about 20 other boats anchored. The sun was shining, the air was warm, kids were laughing and swimming, everybody was happy, a perfect summer afternoon.<br /><br />Then into the cove came a Zodiac with four fat state cops armed with shotguns. They cruised thru the group then came over to my boat and gave me a $50 ticket because my 8' pram had a 2hp motor and it wasn't registered.<br /><br />What could be worse, these fat morons ruining everyone's afternoon cruising thru the cove with their shotguns pointed in the air.<br /><br />That occurred during the Dukakis (Democrat) administration (or chould I say Police State).<br /><br />Incidentally, the Elizabeth Island are a mostly uninhabited string of absolutely beautiful Islands about 12 miles long running south of Cape Cod. Probably the most valuable piece of land in Massachusetts. The only problem is, you can anchor in the coves but you can't go ashore because there are no trespassing signs all along the shore. Guess who owns the Islands? John Forbes Bleeding Heart Liberal Socialist Kerry, Democrat candidate for president.<br /><br />He has parties there with Fat Boy Kennedy (Democratic senator from Massachusetts), hero of Chappaquidic. They say when they pulled Mary Joe Kopeckni's body out of the car there was a footprint on the side of her face. Apparently Fat Boy Democrat Kennedy, in his zeal to save himself, stepped on her head as he was climbing out of the car.<br /><br />Save the Republic, vote Republican!