Boat inspection fees at Lake Tahoe are going up 30 percent this year as officials try to make up for a $100,000 shortfall.
Last year 6,800 boats visited the Lake Tahoe basin to float on the clear water. Of those, 4,000 required decontamination at a cost of $1.5 million. Half of that is paid for by boater fees, the other half by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This year federal funding has been cut $100,000 dollars. So boater fees will increase from $25 to $35.
Amy Berry of the Tahoe Fund says there is also an effort to get corporate sponsors.
“We think there will be signage opportunities at the inspection stations, t-shirts that the inspectors are wearing, maybe some sampling of product on the weekends or during the week," says Berry.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency says without private funding boater fees will have to pay for the entire program. That would double the cost and there is concern higher fees will discourage boaters from coming to the lake.
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