Oregon Tourist Tax

[dutchmensport]

All good comments here and lots of good discussion. But the comment I posted above is what really "gets my goat!" They are basically saying, they don't want out-of-state patrons .... period! Stay away! Read it again:

"idea of discouraging travel to the state"

At least other states (and I agree, they also charge extra for out-of-state visitors ... I'm sitting in a Michigan State Park right now as I type this) ... At least other states welcome out-of-state visitors ... they GLADLY take your extra money. They don't post anywhere ... "Keep out of our state, we don't want you!"

[Javi]

There are more states that I will no longer travel to than there are states that I will still visit... Some that I would like to see again but won't because I'd have to travel through one or more on my nope.. list..

I'm just thankful that I got to see the 48 contiguous and much of Canada and NWT before all the crazy people took over.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

All good comments here and lots of good discussion. But the comment I posted above is what really "gets my goat!" They are basically saying, they don't want out-of-state patrons .... period! Stay away! Read it again:

"idea of discouraging travel to the state"

At least other states (and I agree, they also charge extra for out-of-state visitors ... I'm sitting in a Michigan State Park right now as I type this) ... At least other states welcome out-of-state visitors ... they GLADLY take your extra money. They don't post anywhere ... "Keep out of our state, we don't want you!"

Well if you are referring to the 30% across the board surcharge during the early part of the pandemic, other states were putting up even tougher barriers and the goal was to slow the spread.

Oregon state parks see plenty of out of state and out of country visitors. I have hosted on the coast in the fall and it seemed like 25% of the visitors had Canadian plates on their vehicles. Those visitors are still not coming in numbers as the border is still pretty much closed.

[wiredgeorge]

When the plague hit we had a trip scheduled to go down to the Big Bend and camp for a week. Obviously, local governments had no clue what to do so they closed all the RV parks and motels in that area. We got there and had to turn around and come home and ended up camping in Del Rio in a nice park. Anyway, a fella in the park near the Big Bend in a motorhome was Canadian and he was frantic as he thought they might not let him back in Canada and was afraid he couldn't find gas on the way. If you recall, Canada was fussy about folks entering from the USA; I assume this guy was a Canadian citizen but want to point out that governments had no idea what to do so crazy things happened. The craziest seems to have popped up where the government bosses were of a particular political bent. Don't want to start a political issue but glad I live in Texas where we welcome all visitors. God bless Texas.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by notanlines

When we stayed at a state park in Louisiana the attendant told us if we were from Maryland we would get a 50% discount, same as local residents. What possible connection could Maryland have with Louisiana other than blue crabs and oysters?

I do believe I found the answer to this today in a Camping World newsletter:

The Florida State Pass, for example, offers a 50% discount to those 65 or older but to get that discount they must be Florida residents. That requirement, or that the vehicle entering must have plates from that state, is fairly common.
But the rules and offerings are far from standard. Here are some examples:
...
Louisiana state parks offer a 50% discount off campsite stays for those 62 and older.

So... no residency requirement at all.

[bobbecky]

After reading all of this thread, am I understanding that this campground surcharge for out of state campers only applies to the Oregon state parks and not private RV parks?

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by bobbecky

After reading all of this thread, am I understanding that this campground surcharge for out of state campers only applies to the Oregon state parks and not private RV parks?

Bob as I recall that is what the original article stated.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by bobbecky

After reading all of this thread, am I understanding that this campground surcharge for out of state campers only applies to the Oregon state parks and not private RV parks?

Yes. The theory is that public parks are subsidized by state taxpayer funds and blah, blah, blah.

[notanlines]

Originally Posted by LHaven

I do believe I found the answer to this today in a Camping World newsletter:



So... no residency requirement at all.

CD, if you read the first part of this Louisiana State Parks website you'll see that only Maryland and Arkansas residents have that privilege. We have stayed, and still stay, at Bayou Segnette on the west bank and the rules are still the same.
https://www.lastateparks.com/louisia...sked-questions
"Visitors who hold an America the Beautiful Pass (or already have a Golden Age/Golden Access Passport) and whose home State Park system honor the America the Beautiful passes for overnight discounts, are entitled to a 50% reduction on camping fees at Louisiana State Parks.

State Senior Pass Discount Access Pass Discount
Arkansas Yes Yes

Delaware No Yes

Louisiana Yes Yes

Maryland Yes Yes

[LHaven]

I posted a correction comment to Camping World's article.

[Ken / Claudia]

Being that I was a Oregonian for 62 years and RV owner since about age 28. I have had a different thought about state parks for years.
Licensing any RV in Oregon makes that person paid about 2/3 of that license fee or so towards the state parks for maintenance etc. Of course non residents do not pay any of that in Oregon, just the park camp fees everyone paid. Some years like others have mentioned, I never got a penny worth of that extra license fee.
On the face of it, its a user fee for RV users to pay for the parks, not much from others goes to the state parks.
So, I wanted Oregon RV owners to get a reduced camping fee. I brought this up at a meeting with DMV. Answer "no way" it was said that would reduce funds to the parks. At least I tried.
ID does it right, I pay 10 bucks extra a year for any motor vehicle I want to take to the state parks. Or I pay like non residents 7 more bucks per visit.
My RV license fee in ID is as I recall about half for same vehicle in Oregon.
ID parks are just as nice as Oregon. It seems camping fees are about the same.
As a state employee of Oregon I heard it often how Oregon's high number of tourists help the state and local businesses. Some fees/taxes are directed right at non residents. The lodging tax is one. I am amazed upping camp fees for non residents was not done years ago. If every dollar of that higher fee goes to the parks than I support it. But I know the games law makes have played with tax and fee money. I might be able to write a book on how money voted on for one thing got taken away to pay for another.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by notanlines

CD, if you read the first part of this Louisiana State Parks website you'll see that only Maryland and Arkansas residents have that privilege. We have stayed, and still stay, at Bayou Segnette on the west bank and the rules are still the same.
https://www.lastateparks.com/louisia...sked-questions
"Visitors who hold an America the Beautiful Pass (or already have a Golden Age/Golden Access Passport) and whose home State Park system honor the America the Beautiful passes for overnight discounts, are entitled to a 50% reduction on camping fees at Louisiana State Parks.

State Senior Pass Discount Access Pass Discount
Arkansas Yes Yes

Delaware No Yes

Louisiana Yes Yes

Maryland Yes Yes

It’s similar to the randomness of professional licensing reciprocity across different states..even though a lot of states use the same national testing organizations to proctor the tests….and the same national codes.
Maryland has an agreement with Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

I’m thinking that at some point in history a company from Oklahoma wanted to do work in MD on a federal project perhaps and didn’t want to hire local workers..or the company relocated …somebody introduced legislation to make it happen.

Maybe someone in MD state parks has a home or relatives in Louisiana and they like to camp
A lot of things can be done if a group hires a lobbyist or has a congressman’s ear I guess

[msubobcats]

Originally Posted by jasin1

Apparently Oregon has a a ton of places to camp…especially in Portland…my son was out there for work and said there was a bunch of tents in the median strip between the road..seems it’s a camper friendly town

One of the places we will not frequent...