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WOHVA understands frustration dealerships have with potentially losing business because some residents buy and register their vehicles in Oregon. However, this proposed bill doesn’t help with compliance and makes life harder for their customers, our neighbors, and ORV users in Washington.
Removing Reciprocity will not increase compliance
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Reciprocity has nothing to do with Sales Tax avoidance. They avoid it because out-of-state residents can title ORVs in Oregon. These bills do not and cannot fix that.
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DNR lacks the ability to enforce sales tax law for ORVs. Only Department of Revenue can.
- This bill does nothing to provide more enforcement or an automatic enforcement mechanism.
- Its widely known that out-of-state permits are not legal for residents. Its also widely known that registration requirements are not enforced.
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DNR Policy allows for any non-resident ORV tag regardless of state law
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We'd see more, not less Oregon ORV stickers since 30% of Washington residents visit Oregon ORV trails, and would all be required to buy permits. This would make DNR's job even more difficult, trying to sift through who has a registration and who doesn't.
The end result is that violators could only be caught during an emphasis patrol/trailhead checkpoint. And since DNR owns millions of acres and thousands of miles of roads, only a small percentage of violators would be caught and given a traffic ticket.
Non-Resident (Oregon) registration is very difficult
- You must visit the county auditor or subagent, none are open sundays, and usually 9am-5pm
- The temporary permit is only valid for 60 days and is $15.75
- There is no annual pass
- Operating without a valid pass is a traffic infraction
- There is no way to get a temporary permit online.
- You would have to drive into Washington once every 2 months to get a new pass, and wait in line.
Removing Reciprocity would cause serious harm to WA tourism and volunteerism
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Thousands of hours are spent from Oregon residents on DNR ORV Trail projects
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Oregon residents would be subject to a moving violation if they don’t have a temporary pass. DNR would have to stop all Oregon residents to check validity of the paper permit.
- Oregon's ORV tourism study estimates 30% of total visits are from Washington residents. The Washington SCORP estimates 2.2 Billion dollars is spent in the state. If the majority of Oregon residents cannot legally recreate in Washington and we lose even 5% of visits, that's equivalent to 114 Million dollars.
- Washington Residents would lose value in their own ORV permits because they'd have to purchase an Oregon one. Could cause a loss of ORV renewals for users who recreate in Oregon more than Washington.
Laws already exist to enforce sales tax avoidance
The department of Revenue already has laws that require sales or use tax to be paid on out-of-state purchases. In 2017, the legislature passed SB-5338 which added a warranty provision to get a list of potential tax evaders as well as RCW 46.09.495 which made it clear that residents must register ORVs. RCW 46.09.420 makes it clear the reciprocity exemption to registration is only for out-of-state residents.
What can I do?
Please contact your Representative or Senator and urge them to drop sponsorship of this bill! Its also helpful to use both links to comment on each bill: (Provide Feedback: HB-2723 & SB-6115)
You can also email the following senators and representatives on the Rules committee:
| Senators | Representatives |
| karen.keiser@leg.wa.gov mark.schoesler@leg.wa.gov randi.becker@leg.wa.gov andy.billig@leg.wa.gov reuven.carlyle@leg.wa.gov annette.cleveland@leg.wa.gov bob.hasegawa@leg.wa.gov curtis.king@leg.wa.gov ed.orcutt@leg.wa.gov |
laurie.jinkins@leg.wa.gov steve.bergquist@leg.wa.gov kelly.chambers@leg.wa.gov mike.chapman@leg.wa.gov chris.corry@leg.wa.gov lauren.davis@leg.wa.gov noel.frame@leg.wa.gov chris.gildon@leg.wa.gov paul.harris@leg.wa.gov joel.kretz@leg.wa.gov john.lovick@leg.wa.gov jacquelin.maycumber@leg.wa.gov melanie.morgan@leg.wa.gov lillian.ortiz-self@leg.wa.gov tina.orwall@leg.wa.gov eric.pettigrew@leg.wa.gov marcus.riccelli@leg.wa.gov skyler.rude@leg.wa.gov larry.springer@leg.wa.gov monica.stonier@leg.wa.gov pat.sullivan@leg.wa.gov robert.sutherland@leg.wa.gov mike.volz@leg.wa.gov sharon.wylie@leg.wa.gov j.t.wilcox@leg.wa.gov |
Dear Representative/Senator:
I oppose the reciprocity clauses contained in HB-2723 and SB-6115. If passed, Oregon will face substantial burdens to recreate legally in this state. The clauses will not increase sales tax compliance but rather ruin volunteer efforts in SW Washington and take away over 100million in tourism dollars around the state.
I urge you to vote no on these bills and help WOHVA, The NMA, and WSMDA come up with a comprehensive ORV registration reform bill that drives better compliance while allowing out-of-state residents to easily legally recreate in this state.
Thank You,
Address, City, State