State residents will get a 2 week jump on out of state reservations

**Mustang65** · 05-20-2019, 05:25 PM

Michigan campers would get two-week head start on state park reservations under House bill. Maybe, Florida will follow in Michigan's footsteps on this one. This would be ONE HAPPY CAMPER.
Talk about a can of worms this post will open....

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Don

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Foretm · 05-20-2019, 07:18 PM

Don, I could not agree more!!! My issue is as a taxpayer in this state I do not get the opportunity to use a lot of the parks I subsidize, because of the snowbirds and other tourists. I realize our economy is heavily dependent on tourism and I don’t begrudge them coming to the state and enjoying the weather, however when you can’t book a state park a year in advance on the day a spot opens, we have an issue that requires intervention.

- Mike

Quantum · 05-20-2019, 08:13 PM

As a Canadian who loves camping in Florida, I can understand that Florida residents would want a 2 week advantage.

Newt · 05-20-2019, 08:30 PM

Colorado RV reservations are the same problem-try to book a reservation a year in advance and maybe you will be lucky and get one - just don't plan on it. Manufactures building tons of RV units (selling them too) but very few new campgrounds being built - this situation may be the end of camping in the future. Why have an RV if you don't have a place to use it??

edatlanta · 05-21-2019, 04:16 AM

Yep, let's keep those tourism dollars away from where I live! We locals had rather pay for it all ourselves.

DocBrown · 05-21-2019, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edatlanta

Yep, let's keep those tourism dollars away from where I live! We locals had rather pay for it all ourselves.

Oh, the tourist dollars will still be there. This just gives a chance for the local residents to have a shot a getting a site. Living in a state where we have to fight to get a site in a state facility, I understand this completely.

jloco · 05-21-2019, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newt

Manufactures building tons of RV units (selling them too) but very few new campgrounds being built - this situation may be the end of camping in the future. Why have an RV if you don't have a place to use it??

As a direct affect of the rv BOOM.. even seasonal sites are becoming tough to get..multiple year waiting lists on Cape Cod now.. This wasn't the case a few years ago.

Bassdogs · 05-21-2019, 07:51 AM

This is a recurring theme, we want the $$'s but don't want the noise or congestion. This argument is coming not only from Fla residents but also the very snowbirds who bought condos or homes for winter use. Either way they want access to beaches, resturants, and attractions without having to compete with transient visitors and vacationers. An no to the statement that the tourist $$'s will not go away by making it harder for out of state folks to book reservations. Our last visit to Fla was 4 years ago and we now head to Texas and places west.

Do I understand the argument made here? Yes. But its important to admit that states like Florida has live and work here, retired and moved here, retired and live here 1/2 the time, and the vacationers. The last 3 groups are unique in that they bring in a lot of revenue and pay all kinds of taxes while in the state, but use few of the services funded by those taxes. They don't send kids to schools and they freely spend their money and then go back to where they came from.

When things get unfriendly or people are treated like annoyances, they can find alternatives like DW and I did a few years ago. Several of snowbirds we met in Fla left with us and went to places like Alabama and Mississippi who at least for now welcome them for more than 2 weeks and welcome our dogs on the beaches as well.

Bassdogs · 05-21-2019, 08:05 AM

Michigan has some interesting taxing laws. In the more norther lakes area much of the shoeline properties are owned by non residents either from the lower part of the state or Indiana and such. Interestingly enough the out of staters and non [local] residents pay a higher property tax rate than the permanent residents. In these areas the shore properties pay close to 90% of the taxes supporting schools etc yet are not allowed to vote on the "election" of special assessments for schools and other local expenditures. The meetings to discuss and pass they assessments are always held late in the year when the non residents have headed home. Same issue as the resentment shown to visitors in Fla and the like.

Our neighbors who are Michigan residents [Outside of Detroit on the lake] also have a lake home in northern Michigan. Dw delares the northern property as her permanent residents and her husband delares the lower home so they can avoid the higher taxes. There are ways to beat the system if the system tries to go too far.

blujay40 · 05-21-2019, 08:15 AM

This may appease a few in state residents who feel they are being slighted but I also think it has the capability of creating problems as well.

For instance, what happens when in state residents start booking weekends up throughout the year during their two week head start leaving only a few select week days open? It can't help but have an impact on out of state tourists and their ability to book for longer stays.

In the instances where we ran into this when booking out of state, we could have booked weekday stays at the popular parks for a few days and then moved elsewhere for a weekend or two but that just became really bothersome to do so. So we simply took our RV and our money to places where we could successfully book longer, consecutive stays.

Second, when we do book out of state for longer stays than an occasional in state weekend, we spend a LOT more money in the local economy there than we ever do when close to home.

I get that as a taxpayer, you should be able to avail yourselves the ability to enjoy what your tax dollars help support, but your tax dollars alone do not support the local economies around these parks nor do they entirely support the functioning of a given park. The nicer and more popular parks are the way they are because of the income they generate by being booked as much as they are.

So unless your going to be a "tourist" yourself, you very likely are going to have at least some effect on the local economy as well as the parks ability to maintain it's amenities, but not in a positive way.

Bassdogs · 05-21-2019, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blujay40

This may appease a few in state residents who feel they are being slighted but I also think it has the capability of creating problems as well.

So unless your going to be a "tourist" yourself, you very likely are going to have at least some effect on the local economy as well as the parks ability to maintain it's amenities, but not in a positive way.

For the past decade or so and on into the future, baby boomers are flooding the retirement scene and a high percentage of them live in the midwestern states. Most have been visiting Fla for ever and are now "the snowbirds" that are being discussed on this thread. They have been spending cash down south for 40 or 50 years for vacations and now in retirement are seeking a warmer climate for the winter months. Now they are the outcast for wanting to extend their visits.

Our experience with Fla state parks in Jan - March was that CG occupancy was low, in many cases below 50% except for weekends and things like Presidents day. The year we pulled the plug and headed west, 4 other "snowbirds" made it their last year in Fla., leaving with a combined 55 weeks of paid out of state camping fees in that year alone. When the word got back to the park manager, all of a sudden his tone changed as he realize the hit our group and others were going to have on his park's bottom line in the coming years. Too late and we all left. Gulf Shores was the winner.

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