Letter from an Alert Reader

What brought me to write you was the renewal of my sailboat registration. I don't want to pay more in fees (taxes) than I have to, but the renewal for 3 years comes to a total of $9.00 (three dollars a year for three years!) I figure it costs a good portion of that nine bucks just to get the form to me, process the form, send out the competed paperwork and the stickers. Come to think of it, I remember reading that the average business letter cost over $10.00 to send out, when you consider the personnel and overhead.

So here we have a state in financial trouble, charging nine bucks/three years for a sticker on a sailboat. Maybe they should consolidate the billing for a ten year sticker, or something that at least covers the cost, and make something for the till. Or maybe we should consider that there is little gained by registering a sailboat: no safety inspection, no safety course requirement, nothing at all and therefore, maybe we should do away with the requirement completely, unless it’s just a revenue stream for the state instead.