Mich. non-resident rip-off

Personally I think residents should get some kind of a discount and they should also have some advantage for getting reservations as well… like being able to make reservations a month or so sooner than non-residents on at least ¼ of the reservible sites… why shouldn’t they??? They should also have strict and steep cancelation policies that discourage or prevent site saving as well on all reservations…

et2 wrote:

wbwood wrote:

et2 wrote:

wbwood wrote:

et2 wrote:

Shipper wrote:

travelnutz wrote:
The OP is full of beans with his posted prices and what you get at a Michigan State Park CG. Below is the copied and pasted 2013 CG fees for all Michigan State Park CG's.......

The Link!

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10365-32926--,00.html

The campground site fees are exactly the same for anyone from any state including Michigan residents.

I have a reservation at Mclain State Park for 4 days for $28 a night for a site with no pad, no water; only electric hookup. Most of the toilets are vault (pit). As a non-resident I have to purchase an annual pass (expires 12/31/2013) for $30.50 plus $6.40 for my Toad which increases the cost to $37.23 per night with a grass site that's probably not level.

I only took this site because every thing else was booked for the Labor Day weekend. The State Park has many vacancies (perhaps the OP has a point) so was easy to book, but I'll probably not stay at State Parks for the rest of my trip even after paying the annual fee. Unlike many other State's parks, Michigan doesn't seem to offer as much bang for the buck with their state parks. JMHO :p

Pads?? I have not seen state parks here that had pads. There are plenty of private campgrounds that can supply these needs at a comparable fee . Michigan has a short camping season compared to say Florida as mentioned or even Alabama. As said before "usually" our most popular state parks are reserved 100% way ahead of time (fact). So it seems there isn't a shortage of people waiting to pay the fee.

We've taken a big hit in Michigan compared to many other states financially over the last 10 years. We all are paying higher fees in Michigan for everything. Why wouldn't this get passed onto a nonresident? Or are we suppose to supplement your vacations as well?

Personally if I was traveling and planned ahead and knew of all fees involved, it would be my decision if it was acceptable. If not, I wouldn't complain about the fees when I had other choices that met my expectations. I wouldn't have any issues paying whatever fees in another state if that is really what I wanted.

Why pass it on to someone else? If no one but Michigan residents start using your campgrounds are they gonna lose money or just raise the rates for you? Does it cost the park more to operate for a non resident than it does for a resident? Maybe all states should charge non residents to use their state for everything. :h

Why not? There are plenty of non residence that return every year who have zero issues with the fees. If their willing to pay why should it bother you? It's like any other business, you get what the market will allow.As Mentioned here numerous times, a bit of pre trip planning would have made this a mute point. All states get their revenues one way or another. Could be tolls, taxes, tickets,etc.

The fees aren't going to cause a decline in camping revenues here, even after the attempts of the OP.

It's more or less of the attitude of how you said it. More like "let them pay for it". Not a welcoming feel to the non residents. Like I said, if non residents start not staying as much then the budget will show for it. It will reflect down to the residents with higher fees for you or taxes.

I'm more of a simple person. You pay one amount, no matter what. No fees for this or for that. KISS. allow each site a certain amount of people, dogs, cars and etc. if you want to bring in more than what is allowed, then you need more an one site. Plain and simple. Next thing you know, you will be served with a menu when you go to a park. "I'll take a non-resident campsite, with water, electric, and a 2 sides of doggy permits. Oh yeah, hold the bath house, well use our own".

I have a habit of getting to the point, sorry if I offended you. I really don't have a issue with non residence paying a miniscule amount more than myself to use our campgrounds. On the other hand I certainly wouldn't have issues putting forth fees staying at a campground in some other great state either.

The difference is I wouldn't come on a public forum and claim to the whole world I was ripped off and should avoid Michigan. With all the technology at people's fingers tips these days one should really wonder why they made such a claim.

you are right, I don't honk it's a rip off either. As I mentioned in one my recent posts after reading the actual Michigan website.

wa8yxm wrote:
What you expect to pay the same for a park as the owner pays? I mean I pay for Michigan State Parks every paycheck (With my taxes) you do not you pay for some other state's parks, and guess what.. odds are real good if I stay at one of those parks I pay more.. That is just how it works. I might add it is fair. I don't have a problem with it. One campground I stay at from time to time I pay 33.33333333333333% more than the residents.

Actually you would pay the same as I would in NC. NC has no entrance or parking fees for its state parks. I make reservations online and show up at the park to check in. Basically stop at the boot if after 4pm and tell them my name and site number. They ask if I know how to get to it and I tell them yes. They check my name off and off I go to the site. No vehicle pass or anything. Site with water and electric is $25/night. That includes the reservation fee con extra fee for a toad. No extra fee for a dog.

wbwood wrote:

et2 wrote:

wbwood wrote:

et2 wrote:

Shipper wrote:

travelnutz wrote:
The OP is full of beans with his posted prices and what you get at a Michigan State Park CG. Below is the copied and pasted 2013 CG fees for all Michigan State Park CG's.......

The Link!

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10365-32926--,00.html

The campground site fees are exactly the same for anyone from any state including Michigan residents.

I have a reservation at Mclain State Park for 4 days for $28 a night for a site with no pad, no water; only electric hookup. Most of the toilets are vault (pit). As a non-resident I have to purchase an annual pass (expires 12/31/2013) for $30.50 plus $6.40 for my Toad which increases the cost to $37.23 per night with a grass site that's probably not level.

I only took this site because every thing else was booked for the Labor Day weekend. The State Park has many vacancies (perhaps the OP has a point) so was easy to book, but I'll probably not stay at State Parks for the rest of my trip even after paying the annual fee. Unlike many other State's parks, Michigan doesn't seem to offer as much bang for the buck with their state parks. JMHO :p

Pads?? I have not seen state parks here that had pads. There are plenty of private campgrounds that can supply these needs at a comparable fee . Michigan has a short camping season compared to say Florida as mentioned or even Alabama. As said before "usually" our most popular state parks are reserved 100% way ahead of time (fact). So it seems there isn't a shortage of people waiting to pay the fee.

We've taken a big hit in Michigan compared to many other states financially over the last 10 years. We all are paying higher fees in Michigan for everything. Why wouldn't this get passed onto a nonresident? Or are we suppose to supplement your vacations as well?

Personally if I was traveling and planned ahead and knew of all fees involved, it would be my decision if it was acceptable. If not, I wouldn't complain about the fees when I had other choices that met my expectations. I wouldn't have any issues paying whatever fees in another state if that is really what I wanted.

Why pass it on to someone else? If no one but Michigan residents start using your campgrounds are they gonna lose money or just raise the rates for you? Does it cost the park more to operate for a non resident than it does for a resident? Maybe all states should charge non residents to use their state for everything. :h

Why not? There are plenty of non residence that return every year who have zero issues with the fees. If their willing to pay why should it bother you? It's like any other business, you get what the market will allow.As Mentioned here numerous times, a bit of pre trip planning would have made this a mute point. All states get their revenues one way or another. Could be tolls, taxes, tickets,etc.

The fees aren't going to cause a decline in camping revenues here, even after the attempts of the OP.

It's more or less of the attitude of how you said it. More like "let them pay for it". Not a welcoming feel to the non residents. Like I said, if non residents start not staying as much then the budget will show for it. It will reflect down to the residents with higher fees for you or taxes.

I'm more of a simple person. You pay one amount, no matter what. No fees for this or for that. KISS. allow each site a certain amount of people, dogs, cars and etc. if you want to bring in more than what is allowed, then you need more an one site. Plain and simple. Next thing you know, you will be served with a menu when you go to a park. "I'll take a non-resident campsite, with water, electric, and a 2 sides of doggy permits. Oh yeah, hold the bath house, well use our own".

I have a habit of getting to the point, sorry if I offended you. I really don't have a issue with non residence paying a miniscule amount more than myself to use our campgrounds. On the other hand I certainly wouldn't have issues putting forth fees staying at a campground in some other great state either.

The difference is I wouldn't come on a public forum and claim to the whole world I was ripped off and should avoid Michigan. With all the technology at people's fingers tips these days one should really wonder why they made such a claim.

Instead of looking at this as an increase on outsiders, I look at it as a well deserved discount for local taxpayers.

I'm 100% in favor of collecting higher fees from outside-of-tax-base folks, and never quibble when asked to pony up such fees. I'm just grateful they provide such beautiful facilities, mostly at the expense of the local taxpayers, and let us "furriners" use them at all.

What you expect to pay the same for a park as the owner pays? I mean I pay for Michigan State Parks every paycheck (With my taxes) you do not you pay for some other state's parks, and guess what.. odds are real good if I stay at one of those parks I pay more.. That is just how it works. I might add it is fair. I don't have a problem with it. One campground I stay at from time to time I pay 33.33333333333333% more than the residents.

Ok I went and actually read on the Michigan website what these "fees" are and I think there is a lot of misleading by some on here. Don't be guilty like me and assume they are posting the right information or that they are calling it the right thing. Using the wrongs words can make a mountain out of a mole hill.

The non resident fee is actually a "pass port" for motorized vehicles. Tink of it as a parking pass. While its actual daily non resident price is $8.40 and a duplicate pass port for a toad vehicle is $6.30 per day. A non resident can opt for a yearly passport for $30.50. Basically if you are staying more than 4 days , then it's more beneficial to do it that way. No different than a national parks passport that you can buy that allows you into the parks. Michigan residents do pay for the pass port as well, but at a much lower price of $11 and its added on to their vehicle registration if desired. Their plate sticker will have a little "P" on it with it circled.

The $8 fee is of course the reservation, which you can avoid by not making reservations and just doing a walk in if anything is available. I do agree that an $8 reservation if high, but most states have a fee of some sort. Some are higher and some are lower than that. As far as the actual camping fees, I don't see a big problem with those. They seemed to be inline pretty much with many other state parks. It's just that they charge for you to enter. Georgia basically has the same thing. North Carolina does not. Can't remember if Florida did or not. Those are the only states with state parks that we have stayed in.

Seeing all this and understanding exactly what it is and what it's for, I have no issues and take back back my negative comments about it.

People, non-residents aren't getting ripped off, the locals have to pay a surcharge to use the park too. That surcharge is called a state income tax! When I first moved to TX from IL I wondered why certain things that were free in IL cost money in TX, then it dawned on me, they weren't free, I paid for them as part of my state income tax, something that I don't have in TX.
Steve

NY State parks charge a $5.00 per night non resident fee. To the OP, you did not get "ripped off". You may not have been happy about paying more, but it is not a hidden charge that was sprung on you.
I noticed on the IL web site that as a non resident over 62 years of age the the resident discount will not apply to me. Should I refuse to camp in Illinois or go ahead and then complain about being ripped off?

et2 wrote:

wbwood wrote:

et2 wrote:

Shipper wrote:

travelnutz wrote:
The OP is full of beans with his posted prices and what you get at a Michigan State Park CG. Below is the copied and pasted 2013 CG fees for all Michigan State Park CG's.......

The Link!

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10365-32926--,00.html

The campground site fees are exactly the same for anyone from any state including Michigan residents.

I have a reservation at Mclain State Park for 4 days for $28 a night for a site with no pad, no water; only electric hookup. Most of the toilets are vault (pit). As a non-resident I have to purchase an annual pass (expires 12/31/2013) for $30.50 plus $6.40 for my Toad which increases the cost to $37.23 per night with a grass site that's probably not level.

I only took this site because every thing else was booked for the Labor Day weekend. The State Park has many vacancies (perhaps the OP has a point) so was easy to book, but I'll probably not stay at State Parks for the rest of my trip even after paying the annual fee. Unlike many other State's parks, Michigan doesn't seem to offer as much bang for the buck with their state parks. JMHO :p

Pads?? I have not seen state parks here that had pads. There are plenty of private campgrounds that can supply these needs at a comparable fee . Michigan has a short camping season compared to say Florida as mentioned or even Alabama. As said before "usually" our most popular state parks are reserved 100% way ahead of time (fact). So it seems there isn't a shortage of people waiting to pay the fee.

We've taken a big hit in Michigan compared to many other states financially over the last 10 years. We all are paying higher fees in Michigan for everything. Why wouldn't this get passed onto a nonresident? Or are we suppose to supplement your vacations as well?

Personally if I was traveling and planned ahead and knew of all fees involved, it would be my decision if it was acceptable. If not, I wouldn't complain about the fees when I had other choices that met my expectations. I wouldn't have any issues paying whatever fees in another state if that is really what I wanted.

Why pass it on to someone else? If no one but Michigan residents start using your campgrounds are they gonna lose money or just raise the rates for you? Does it cost the park more to operate for a non resident than it does for a resident? Maybe all states should charge non residents to use their state for everything. :h

Why not? There are plenty of non residence that return every year who have zero issues with the fees. If their willing to pay why should it bother you? It's like any other business, you get what the market will allow.As Mentioned here numerous times, a bit of pre trip planning would have made this a mute point. All states get their revenues one way or another. Could be tolls, taxes, tickets,etc.

The fees aren't going to cause a decline in camping revenues here, even after the attempts of the OP.

It's more or less of the attitude of how you said it. More like "let them pay for it". Not a welcoming feel to the non residents. Like I said, if non residents start not staying as much then the budget will show for it. It will reflect down to the residents with higher fees for you or taxes.

I'm more of a simple person. You pay one amount, no matter what. No fees for this or for that. KISS. allow each site a certain amount of people, dogs, cars and etc. if you want to bring in more than what is allowed, then you need more an one site. Plain and simple. Next thing you know, you will be served with a menu when you go to a park. "I'll take a non-resident campsite, with water, electric, and a 2 sides of doggy permits. Oh yeah, hold the bath house, well use our own".