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The proposal, which would have created funding to duplicate the success of the Croom Motorcycle Recreation Area, died in the Legislature.
By GREG AUMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2000
In an attempt to allow more public land to be set aside like the Croom Motorcycle Recreation Area, a Palm Harbor man helped create a bill this year that would have generated more than $1-million in state revenues through a system of titling and registration for all-terrain vehicles.
Jack Terrell, 56, saw the bill pass through committees in the state Senate and House of Representatives, only to die on the floor of the Legislature without a vote when the session ended this month.
"It died along with a lot of other bills, and it had nothing to do with anything about the bill," said Terrell, adding he is unsure if he can devote the time necessary to steer the bill through the system again next year. "I had a lot of people telling me that to get it through all the committees was a major accomplishment, that they didn't think it would make it past the first committee."
The bill proposed a $29 onetime title fee for all new ATVs. Unlike cars, the state does not track ATVs by their vehicle identification numbers. When a stolen ATV is recovered, little can be done to return the vehicle to its owner if it is found outside its original county.
"We were all in favor of (the bill), for any number of reasons," said Lynne Bolton, the Withlacoochee State Forest's recreational coordinator. "It makes a lot of sense, and it would be wonderful for those people who lose their vehicles to theft. To put that money back into the areas where these people are riding is a great thing, and I was sorry to see that it wasn't passed."
Terrell estimated that 20,000 ATVs are sold in Florida each year, which would generate $580,000 in revenue from title fees. In addition, an annual fee of $25 for all vehicles using public land would have registered the ATVs with an official decal, much like those found on license plates. Ranchers and farmers who use ATVs on their own land as work vehicles would have been exempt from the annual fees.
"There are similar systems in place in many states, but Florida just happens to be one where it's not being done," said Terrell, a member of the Florida Trail Riders, one of the state's largest groups of off-highway vehicle enthusiasts.
Terrell said the bill was supported by the Division of Forestry, the Department of Motor Vehicles and organizations such as the Florida Motorcycle Dealers Association and the Florida Trail Riders.
Revenue from such a bill could have been used to help set up and maintain a second motorcycle area, similar to the 2,600-acre Croom tract, on land in the southern end of the state, where such a public area is lacking..
"For the people who drive up (to Croom) from Miami and Fort Lauderdale every week, there's no reason why there couldn't be a place a lot closer," Terrell said. "The land is available, but they don't have the money to maintain it."
Terrell spent considerable time on the bill this year, even driving to Tallahassee to speak with committees. But he is unsure if he can make such a commitment during the next legislative session. The bill would have to be introduced again and taken through committees, and with a large turnover in the November elections, there would be no guarantee the bill would find the same support.
"Ask me again in three months," Terrell said when asked if he would do it again next year.
"It has to start from scratch, and how a bill becomes a law is not as easy as they teach you in grade school. That's fantasy land. The real question is "Can you find the volunteers to push it through the system?' "