By Cy Ryan

Mon, Aug 25, 2008 (3:42 p.m.)

CARSON CITY -- There are an estimated 250,000 dirt bikes, snowmobiles, ATVs and dune buggies in Nevada, but only a small number are registered with the state.

“We’re losing millions of dollars in sales tax revenue,” says Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain. These riders go to other states, buy their vehicles and come back to Nevada, escaping the sales tax since they don’t have to register the vehicles in the state, he said.

Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Elko, says the users groups have “gotten together this time” and agreed to support a bill in the 2009 Legislature.

Nevada, said Rhoads, is the only state in the West that doesn’t register the vehicles. In addition to losing revenue, it hampers law enforcement efforts to locate stolen off-road vehicles.

Leah Bradle, executive director of the Nevada Powersport Dealers Association, estimates that $34 million a year in business is lost by Nevada dealers when residents go out of state to purchase vehicles. She estimates the state uses about $2.5 million in sales tax.

Bradle, who represents close to 20 dealers, said the state Department of Taxation is working to recover some of that money but is falling short.

The Legislative Committee on Public Lands agreed Friday to sponsor a bill that calls for a $20 annual registration fee. It would be the fourth attempt to pass such a bill. The bill in 2007 gained approval in the Senate but died in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Charles Cox, president of the Nevada Off Highway Vehicle Owners Association, says ranchers, environmentalists, sportsmen and enforcement officers got together in the interim and came up with a plan. Cox, of Mesquite, said the owners want required registration to pay for safety, education and trail improvement programs. The bill calls for 20 percent to go to enforcement, 15 percent for education, 5 percent for administration and the remaining 60 percent for maintenance, improvement and rehabilitation of trails.

Marvel says the biggest opposition is from state agencies. No one wants to oversee the registration and the job of checking on those who are escaping licensing.

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles was designated in the 2007 bill as overseer of the program. But that agency and others were reluctant to take on the responsibility.

Rhoads said the DMV is again being tapped for the job. “They don’t want it but they are going to get it,” he said.

There is currently a voluntary system for registering the off-highway vehicles, but at last count fewer than 3,000 signed up.

The bill, introduced in the 2007 session, was stuck in the Senate for two months. It was eventually passed unanimously by the Senate on the final day of the session. And the Assembly never got a chance to consider the measure.

Cy Ryan may be reached at (775) 687 5032 or cy@lasvegassun.com.