Bill proposed to raise license fees....up and up and up.

I see problems with the pensions, the time is now to have them contribute like the rest of us.
 
wildtrout2 wrote:
As it is now, my license cost of $32.80 is the best spent money of the year for me. If it went up $10.00 next year it would be my best spent $42.80 next year. .
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Yes. I wish it would. A respectable raise for the staff (if you think it's just a great job, then YOU do it) and money for everything else that they can't pay for now. Fix dams. Fund stream work. Boat launches. Amazing to me for someone to seriously think the PAF&B or about any agency doesn't need more $$$ to do the same work for years and years.
Fly rods now cost nearly $1000. There are Japanese jerk baits for well over $20. $400 waders.
Get some perspective.

Syl
 
CRB wrote:
I see problems with the pensions, the time is now to have them contribute like the rest of us.
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State workers do contribute to their pensions FYI
 
I think it's interesting fisherman are so willing to except increases in license costs. I would believe most people who fish tend to lean to the right and oppose tax increases. While a license isn't exactly a tax it is money going to the government out of their pockets. I think the PBFC goes an alright job in most cases but there is a lot of room for improvement in many areas. Correct me if I'm wrong but these increases won't provide us better service as much as it will pay pensions.

It would be a lot easier to accept paying more if the service provided was outstanding. The reality is as costs increase and service stay the same or degrades less people will bother to purchase a license.
 
All I know is that I can't stop fishing, I just can't, so no matter what a license costs I'll buy one.
 
phiendWMD wrote:
I think it's interesting fisherman are so willing to except increases in license costs. I would believe most people who fish tend to lean to the right and oppose tax increases. While a license isn't exactly a tax it is money going to the government out of their pockets. I think the PBFC goes an alright job in most cases but there is a lot of room for improvement in many areas. Correct me if I'm wrong but these increases won't provide us better service as much as it will pay pensions.

It would be a lot easier to accept paying more if the service provided was outstanding. The reality is as costs increase and service stay the same or degrades less people will bother to purchase a license.
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^ The last sentence pretty much sums up what is happening right now.

I can't think of anything that hasn't gone up in price since 2005. Every good and service used by the PFBC to deliver their product has gone up in price. How can one expect the PFBC to deliver the same quality and quantity of service without an increase in revenue when their costs keep rising?

Doing more with less can only works for so long. At some point the quality and quantity of service will suffer.
 
the nickel cigars I started smoking around 1950 when I was nine are now 65 cents- same taste- the six centers are 75 cents - outrageous.
 
I'm all for a price raise. Like AFish and other have pointed out, when the prices rise for providing the service...the price of the service has to match, or you start to lose quality/quantity.

That said...I'm shelling out $50 for a week long fishing pass in Maine this summer....the $32ish I dropped for this YEARs license is peanuts compared to that.
 
phiendWMD wrote:
I think it's interesting fisherman are so willing to except increases in license costs. I would believe most people who fish tend to lean to the right and oppose tax increases. While a license isn't exactly a tax it is money going to the government out of their pockets.
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I don't see any particular political leaning in the fishermen I know. They run the spectrum from very progressive to very reactionary. Still your last sentence is partially correct. A license isn't a tax -- it's a usage fee, favored by conservatives, because it keeps taxes down. The government isn't going to garnish your wages if you fail to buy a fishing license this year. Only people who actually use the resource pay for it.

We could be living in England, where a day on the chalk streams is going to set you back a thousand pounds or so. I don't know how often you fish, but I probably pay less than a dollar a day for licenses (PA & MD combined).

Or you could be paying Donnie Beaver. What does he charge for access compared to what the PFBC charges for access to it's waters?
 
To think I shell out 25+ to go to a baseball game - when most of the time i know the Phillies winning, are not part of the equation. It is pretty awesome when they do when attending.


What's the price of a 1 day ski lift ticket these days?
 
I think it is about time for an increase. I have been at my job for 27 years and we have not had A raise since 2007. Because of this most of the good workers we have had are now gone. If you want to keep quality workers and keep up the services of the commission then you need A raise. And besides just the pay what else hasn't gone up since 2005. Also for the last 20 years I have been keeping track of how many days A year I fish. I have averaged 90 days A year over the past 20 years. Do the math and it is still less than .50 cents A day for fishing. Now that is A bargain .
 
REDNECK_FLYFISHER wrote:
I think it is about time for an increase. I have been at my job for 27 years and we have not had A raise since 2007. Because of this most of the good workers we have had are now gone. If you want to keep quality workers and keep up the services of the commission then you need A raise. And besides just the pay what else hasn't gone up since 2005. Also for the last 20 years I have been keeping track of how many days A year I fish. I have averaged 90 days A year over the past 20 years. Do the math and it is still less than .50 cents A day for fishing. Now that is A bargain .
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You haven't had a raise in 10 years?
I'd be searching for a new job man.
 
No raise is why most have left here. I am here because I don't need as much as others. I live simple, and I have no more house payment , no truck payment , the company pays 100 percent of my health insurance with 25 vacation days, 10 holidays , and 12 sick days A year. So I get paid to NOT be at work a lot. If I was still raising kids and had expensive bills yet I would have been gone a long time ago.
 
REDNECK_FLYFISHER wrote:
I think it is about time for an increase. I have been at my job for 27 years and we have not had A raise since 2007. Because of this most of the good workers we have had are now gone. If you want to keep quality workers and keep up the services of the commission then you need A raise. And besides just the pay what else hasn't gone up since 2005. Also for the last 20 years I have been keeping track of how many days A year I fish. I have averaged 90 days A year over the past 20 years. Do the math and it is still less than .50 cents A day for fishing. Now that is A bargain .
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What makes you think that PFBC employees have been working for the same pay since 2005?

The bad news is that a license increase will NOT result in expanded services. It's needed to stem the bleeding on existing services or to prevent services from being cut. It's a hard sell to the public - "We're increasing the license costs by 30% in year one, and you get nothing". The COLA/inflation/3%/whatever-you-wanna-call-it increase per year is smart and should have been done years ago and I've been saying that for years. Take the step function out of license increases and you'll have a happier license buying public AND you don't need to pander to the legislature to fight for a license increase every ten years after a crisis develops. And you won't have the exodus of license buyers that follows a step-function license increase.

As far as your company not giving raises since 2007, that's some pretty hard core wage stagnation. I worked in the building industry just as the Great Recession crested and it was acceptable that wages and bonuses froze for positions in that industry (not sure what line of work you are in). But the economy has recovered to the point that companies should be able to afford even a token 1% increase in wages, which would at least combat negative morale created by zero increases for ten years.
 
salmonoid wrote:

The bad news is that a license increase will NOT result in expanded services. It's needed to stem the bleeding on existing services or to prevent services from being cut. It's a hard sell to the public - "We're increasing the license costs by 30% in year one, and you get nothing". The COLA/inflation/3%/whatever-you-wanna-call-it increase per year is smart and should have been done years ago and I've been saying that for years. Take the step function out of license increases and you'll have a happier license buying public AND you don't need to pander to the legislature to fight for a license increase every ten years after a crisis develops. And you won't have the exodus of license buyers that follows a step-function license increase.

As far as your company not giving raises since 2007, that's some pretty hard core wage stagnation. I worked in the building industry just as the Great Recession crested and it was acceptable that wages and bonuses froze for positions in that industry (not sure what line of work you are in). But the economy has recovered to the point that companies should be able to afford even a token 1% increase in wages, which would at least combat negative morale created by zero increases for ten years.
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Redneck _Flyfisher has 100% company paid health insurance. That's a really good deal in this day and age. Good points here - increase does nothing to add services - just stems the bleeding aka pension liability. The big hit all at once instead of minimal yearly increases just doesn't seem to be a rational approach.

I'll still buy a license but...
 
Very interesting discussion, I would pay 3X the price for a license if I had to.
Don't forget there are quite a few folks especially in the northern counties who supplement their sustenance by hunting and fishing. an increase might force more of them to forgo a license altogether.
no easier answer for this issue.
 
Bob, you make an excellent point about England.

Having lived there, worked there and TRIED to fish there it became readily apparent that in the UK fishing is, indeed, a rich man's sport.

Of all the engineers and craft people I worked with for all those years NONE of them fished.

They just laughed when I asked why...
 
As far as pay raises and pensions for PFBC employees, aren't they part of the general state employee system? I understood the PFBC had to make provisions in their budget for salary and pensions benefits but that the overall state system controlled those rates.

I believe what the PFBC has done in recent years is go to contractors in certain cases to reduce head count. But that can't be done with law enforcement personnel. And not something you would want for the biologists.

I don't know if it is possible to spread the increase out more over several years or if they have exhausted all other options.

Unfortunately this was another "kick the can down the road" issue and now we are down the road. So likely have to have the increase and see if the numbers drop.
 
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