§ 42-17.1-9.1 - User fees at state beaches, parks, and recreation areas.
SECTION 42-17.1-9.1
§ 42-17.1-9.1 User fees at state beaches,parks, and recreation areas. – (a) The department of environmental management in pursuance of itsadministrative duties and responsibilities may charge a user fee for any statebeach, or recreational area under its jurisdiction, and fees for the use of itsservices or facilities.
(b) The fee may be on a daily or annual basis, or both, andmay be based on vehicle parking or other appropriate means. The fees mayrecognize the contribution of Rhode Island taxpayers to support the facilitiesin relation to other users of the state's facilities. The fee structure mayacknowledge the need to provide for all people, regardless of circumstances.
(c) An additional fee for camping and other special uses maybe charged where appropriate. Rates so charged should be comparable toequivalent commercial facilities.
(d) All such fees shall be established after a public hearing.
(e) All daily fees from beach parking, which shall alsoinclude fees charged and collected at Ninigret conservation area andCharlestown breachway, shall be shared with the municipality in which thefacility is located on the basis of seventy-three percent (73%) retained by thestate and twenty-seven percent (27%) remitted to the municipality.
(f) Fifty percent (50%) of all user and concession feesreceived by the state shall be deposited as general revenues. For the yearbeginning July 1, 1979, the proportion of user and concession fees to bereceived by the state shall be sixty-five percent (65%); for the year beginningJuly 1, 1980, eighty-five percent (85%); and for the year beginning July 1,1981, and all years thereafter, one hundred percent (100%). The general revenuemonies appropriated are hereby specifically dedicated to meeting the costs ofdevelopment, renovation of, and acquisition of state-owned recreation areas andfor regular maintenance, repair and operation of state owned recreation areas.Purchases of vehicles and equipment and repairs to facilities shall not exceedfour hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) annually. Notwithstanding theprovisions of § 37-1-1 or any other provision of the general laws, thedirector of the department of environmental management is hereby authorized toaccept any grant, devise, bequest, donation, gift, or assignment of money,bonds, or other valuable securities for deposit in the same manner as providedabove for user and concession fees retained by the state.
(g) No fee shall be charged to any school or other nonprofitorganization provided that a representative of the school or other organizationgives written notice of the date and time of their arrival to the facility.