Quite a few will be asking 'What does the bill recently passed in Congress temporarily altering cabin fee increases, do for ME?'
This e-mail we received from the Oregon Forest Homeowners attempts to clear it up. Please read the excerpt below:
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From: Sharon Karr [sekarr@asktechwriter.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 9:32 AM
Subject: C2 Update for Oregon
To all,
Below is the latest information from C2 which may help answer some of the questions I am receiving about the impact of the new moratorium for Oregon permit holders. Although
Oregon permit fees are not impacted by the moratorium, it is important that cabin owners understand this is a symbolic victory that included both Senator Wyden and Representative Walden as supporters.
Below Pete Bailey's message, I have copied in another email that describes the fee savings for Lake Owens, Wisconsin, provided by the moratorium. There are a number of cabin owners nationwide that are facing very high fees and the moratorium is a significant solution for the short term while C2 works toward a long-term fix to CUFFA.
Don't forget to check the NFH Blog and the OFHA website to obtain current information on C2 activities.
http://nationalforesthomeowners.org/leadership/http://www.oregonforesthomeowners.com/OFHA%20C2%20Report.html
Thanks,
Sharon Karr
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Begin forwarded message:
From: "Pete Bailey"
Date: November 6, 2009 9:18:16 AM PST
Subject: C2 Update 11.6.09
Greetings C2 State and Regional Coordinators,
Securing the support of Congress for the 2010 Cabin Fee Moratorium was a huge step forward in achieving our overall goal of permit fee reform. Our success was due to the efforts of individuals in every corner of the country. A gracious Thank You to all cabin owners who wrote, called or emailed their Legislators. You made a difference!
Though the moratorium does not fully address the most egregious situations, it does help considerably, but more importantly indicates that Congress recognizes that we have a serious problem that needs to be resolved. The initial Senate version held 2010 fees at the 2009 level, but created a $3.9M offset (reduction) in the Forest Service recreation budget. The House/ Senate conference version that was signed into law capped any potential increase at 25%, reducing the offset by about $1M. The hard budget times in DC clearly impacted our situation. The actual moratorium language follows for your interest.
SEC. 433. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used by the Secretary of Agriculture to increase a recreation residence user fee for calendar year 2010 by more than 25 percent of the recreation residence user fee applicable to the recreation residence for calendar 2009.
We are not resting with this initial success with Congress, but continue to push forward. Coalition 2 has developed 1) draft legislation language and 2) a summary of the intent of the draft legislation. We have tried to capture the principles and structure of the User Fee/Transfer Fee (UF/TF) idea as proposed. You have informed us that you agree with the UF/TF Proposal, in fact, 92.7% of all those responding to the Sales Data and Appraisal Survey, just completed, support replacing CUFFA with the UF/TF concept. Thanks for this clear affirmation of support. Congress and the Forest Service wanted to know what degree of support existed. Now we can answer their question.
Our Washington Representative, Aubrey King, now is tasked with ‘shopping’ the draft bill in Congress. We are seeking sponsorship for the draft legislation among several likely candidates. They will be approached in the next few weeks. We’ll keep you posted on the results.
Other challenges remain. Once the draft bill is submitted to Congress, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will be asked to assess the revenue impact of the proposed legislation. We are preparing to defend our assertion that the Proposal is ‘revenue neutral’. This is a key issue if we expect to keep the fee tiers in the affordable range. We also expect negotiations with Congress and the Forest Service to include other issues, e.g., the final percentages and the exact tier assignments with their related fees. Leadership believes that the proposal, as written, fairly addresses these complicated issues. Be assured that leadership will remain fully engaged in this process. The hard work begins now.
Overall support has been great! But, we have not crossed the goal line. Your continued moral and financial support will be required going forward. I ask that you stay informed and engaged as much as your life demands allow.
Pete Bailey, C2 Legislative Contact chair
FYI:
You have all heard me talk about Lake Owens, WI and how they are facing a similar situation as Lake Wenatchee. Here are their fee numbers. The 2009 fee is a one third phase in of their 98 appraisal. Without the moratorium, they would face another big jump in 2010 when their 2008 CUFFA appraisal ($320,000 or a $16,000 annual fee) gets phased in ($9062), 2011 ($12,531) and 2012 ($16,000). The 25% moratorium helps by reducing the 2010 obligation to ($6992), approximately a $2070 savings. These are approximate numbers, as I ignored the IPD-GDP inflator. But, you get the idea...
Pete
