§ 3305. Fees
(a) An individual shall not operate a motorboat on the public waters of this State unless
the motorboat has a valid marine document issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
or any successor federal agency or is registered in accordance with this chapter.
(b) Annually or biennially, the owner of each motorboat required to be registered by this
State shall file an application for a number with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles
on forms approved by him or her. The application shall be signed by the owner of the
motorboat and shall be accompanied by an annual fee of $31.00, or a biennial fee of
$57.00, for a motorboat in class A; by an annual fee of $49.00, or a biennial fee
of $93.00, for a motorboat in class 1; by an annual fee of $80.00, or a biennial fee
of $155.00, for a motorboat in class 2; by an annual fee of $153.00, or a biennial
fee of $303.00, for a motorboat in class 3. Upon receipt of the application in approved
form, the Commissioner shall enter the application upon the records of the Department
of Motor Vehicles and issue to the applicant a registration certificate stating the
number awarded to the motorboat and the name and address of the owner. The owner shall
paint on or attach to each side of the bow of the motorboat the identification number
in such manner as may be prescribed by rules of the Commissioner in order that it
may be clearly visible. The registration shall be void one year from the first day
of the month following the month of issue in the case of annual registrations or void
two years from the first day of the month following the month of issue in the case
of biennial registrations. A motorboat of less than 10 horsepower used as a tender
to a registered motorboat shall be deemed registered, at no additional cost, and shall
have painted or attached to both sides of the bow the same registration number as
the registered motorboat with the number “1” after the number. The number shall be
maintained in legible condition. The registration certificate shall be pocket size
and shall be available at all times for inspection on the motorboat for which issued,
whenever the motorboat is in operation. A duplicate registration may be obtained upon
payment of a fee of $3.00 to the Commissioner. Registration fees shall be allocated
in accordance with section 3319 of this title.
(c) A person engaged in the business of selling or exchanging motorboats, as defined in
subdivision 4(8) of this title, of a type otherwise required to be registered by this subchapter shall register
and obtain registration certificates for use as described under subdivision (1) of
this subsection, subject to the requirements of chapter 7 of this title. A manufacturer
of motorboats may register and obtain registration certificates under this section.
(1) A dealer motorboat registration number may be used:
(A) for the purpose of testing or adjusting motorboats in the immediate vicinity of his
or her place of business;
(B) for some purpose directly connected with the business of purchasing, selling, or exchanging
motorboats by the dealer;
(C) for demonstration when the prospective purchaser is operating the motorboat and is
not accompanied by the dealer or his or her employee, but not for more than three
days;
(D) for the temporary accommodation of a customer whose motorboat, because of crash or
wear, is disabled and is left with the dealer for repairs for not more than 14 days;
(E) for the private business or pleasure use of the dealer and members of the dealer’s
immediate family residing in the same household; and
(F) for the use of those motorboats at regattas, marine parades, or water festivities
where no charge is made for that use.
(2) The word “dealer” for the purpose of subdivision (1)(E) of this subsection shall include
the principal officers of a corporation or dealer and those partners in a copartnership
registered as a dealer as are actively and principally engaged in the motorboat business,
but shall not include directors and stockholders nor inactive and silent partners.
(3) An application for a dealer motorboat registration and registration number shall be
accompanied by the following fees:
(A) for the registration and first number applied for, $42.00; and
(B) for each additional number applied for in the current registration period, $12.00.
(4) The Commissioner shall issue a registration certificate of number for each identifying
number awarded to the dealer in the manner described in subsection (a) of this section,
except that a motorboat shall not be described in the certificate. A dealer’s registration
certificate expires one year from the first day of the month of issuance.
(5) A dealer’s identifying number shall be displayed as required by subsection (a) except
that the number may be temporarily attached.
(6) A dealer or representative of a dealer shall not use a dealer’s identifying number
for any purpose other than those described in subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(d)(1) Registration of a motorboat ends when the owner transfers title to another. The former
owner shall immediately return directly to the Commissioner the registration certificate
previously assigned to the transferred motorboat with the date of sale and the name
and residence of the new owner endorsed on the back of the certificate.
(2) When a person transfers the ownership of a registered motorboat to another, files
a new application, and pays a fee of $6.00, he or she may have registered in his or
her name another motorboat of the same class for the remainder of the registration
period without payment of any additional registration fee. However, if the fee for
the registration of the motorboat sought to be registered is greater than the registration
fee for the transferred motorboat, the applicant shall pay the difference between
the fee first paid and the fee for the class motorboat sought to be registered.
(e) If an agency of the U.S. government has in force an overall system of identification
numbering for motorboats within the United States, the numbering system employed under
this subchapter by the Commissioner shall conform with that system.
(f) Every registration certificate awarded under this subchapter shall continue in effect
as prescribed in subsection (b) of this section unless sooner ended under this chapter.
The registration certificate may be renewed by the owner in the same manner provided
for in securing the initial certificate.
(g) The owner shall notify the Commissioner of the transfer of any part of the owner’s
interest other than the creation of a security interest in a motorboat numbered in
this State under subsections (a) and (b) of this section or of the destruction or
abandonment of the motorboat, within 15 days after the transfer, destruction, or abandonment.
The transfer, destruction, or abandonment shall end the certificate of number for
the motorboat except that in the case of a transfer of a part interest that does not
affect the owner’s right to operate the motorboat, the transfer shall not end the
certificate of number.
(h) Any holder of a registration certificate shall notify the Commissioner within 15 days
if his or her address ceases to be the address appearing on the certificate and shall,
as a part of the notification, furnish the Commissioner with his or her new address.
The Commissioner may provide by rule for the surrender of the certificate bearing
the former address and its replacement with a certificate bearing the new address
or for the alteration of an outstanding certificate to show the new address of the
holder.
(i) No number other than the number awarded to a motorboat or granted reciprocity under
this subchapter may be painted, attached, or otherwise displayed on either side of
the bow of the motorboat.
(j) The Commissioner, by rules adopted pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25, may provide for the issuance of temporary registrations of motorboats pending issuance
of the permanent registration. Motorboat dealers may issue temporary motorboat registrations.
The dealer’s fee for the temporary registrations shall be $6.00 for each registration
purchased from the Department of Motor Vehicles. Temporary registrations shall be
kept with the motorboat while being operated and shall authorize operation without
the registration number being affixed for a period not to exceed 60 days from the
date of issue.
(k) The Commissioner shall enclose with every permanent and temporary motorboat registration
and registration renewal certificate issued pursuant to this chapter a statement,
based on current aquatic nuisance threats and spread prevention methods, regarding
the danger of aquatic nuisances, how aquatic nuisance species are spread, and how
spread of aquatic nuisance species may be controlled. (Added 1983, No. 212 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1985, No. 90, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986; 1987, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1989, No. 65, § 2; 1989, No. 265 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 3, 4, eff. March 1, 1991; 1993, No. 52, § 1; 1995, No. 16, § 1; 1997, No. 62, § 52, eff. June 26, 1997; 2001, No. 75 (Adj. Sess.), § 10; 2001, No. 102 (Adj. Sess.), § 30, eff. May 15, 2002; 2001, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 56; 2003, No. 163 (Adj. Sess.), § 24, eff. June 10, 2004; 2009, No. 46, § 5, eff. July 1, 2010; 2009, No. 50, § 59; 2013, No. 57, § 7; 2015, No. 50, § 4; 2015, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 49; 2021, No. 76, § 13; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 425, 426, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 318, eff. July 1, 2024.)