Was a recreation area's vehicle-use or camping fee an admission charge when pedestrians could park outside and enter free?

Plain-English summary

A recreation area charged people arriving by automobile for facility use but did not charge pedestrians. Visitors could park outside and walk in free, and the dam owner had to provide free public fishing access under the cited Fish and Game Code provision.

The Department of Fish and Game did not view vehicle-use or camping charges as violating that free-access policy, but would have objected to a charge imposed on every person. Board tax counsel therefore concluded that the vehicle and camping fees were not strictly admission charges.

The memorandum applied the same conclusion to a second redacted recreation area. It declined to establish general rules for other facilities and instructed the district to gather all facts and seek a case-specific decision.

Common questions

Did charging automobiles mean the area charged admission?

No. Pedestrians could enter free, so the source treated the payment as a vehicle or facility-use charge.

Was the rule meant to govern every campground or lake?

No. The memorandum expressly preferred case-by-case decisions.

Why did fishing access matter?

The cited law required free public fishing access at the stocked lake, and a fee charged to everyone would have conflicted with that policy.

Citations and references

• California Fish and Game Code section 5943 (as cited)

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/annotations-menu.htm
• Annotation page: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol2/suta/550-0000-all.html
• Original supporting opinion: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/550-0022.pdf

Original ruling text

State of California

Board of Equalization

Memorandum

550.0022

To:

Santa Barbara - Subdistrict
Administrator (HD)

September 10, 1970

From:

Tax Counsel (LAA) - Headquarters

Subject:

R--- E. M---, R. D--- L. M--L--- C--- Store
XX --- Street
--- ---, California XXXXX

SR --- XX XXXXXX

G--- L. T--C--- L--- Store
C--- L--- Str. Rurl. Sta.
--- ---, California XXXXX

SR – XX XXXXXX

Based on the information previously submitted, and on our recent telephone conversation, it is my conclusion that entrance to L--- C--- Recreation Area is not subject to an admission charge. The fee for the use of facilities is charged to persons in automobiles, but not to pedestrians. There is considerable parking outside the area to allow persons easy free access by parking outside and walking into the area. Fish and Game Code section 5943 requires the owner of a dam to allow the public free access for fishing during the fishing seasons, subject to regulations of the Fish and Game Commission. Since this lake is stocked by the California Department of Fish and Game, the operator of the recreation area, the V--- R--- M--- Water District, must allow free access to the public for fishing under the regulations of the Commission. The Department of Fish and Game does not consider the charge for vehicles or for use of camping facilities to violate their free access policy, but would consider a charge to all persons to be a violation. Consequently, the vehicle use charge or the camping charge cannot be considered strictly an admission charge. There is apparently some confusion over the status of L--- C--- caused by my memo of August 28, 1970, to Tom Putnam. That memo was a discussion of possible grounds for justifying the exclusion of L--- C--- from the “admission charge” rule, and was not intended to

--- --- Subdist.
Admin. (HD)
SR --- XX XXXXXX,
SR -- XX XXXXXX

-2-

September 30, 1970
550.0022

imply that we were changing the ruling made by Phil Dougherty on August 10, 1970. Neither L--- C--- nor L--- C--- has an “admission charge”. There seems to be some interest in our laying down broad guidelines for judging the application of tax in similar areas. We prefer not to do this, but wish to proceed on a “case by case” approach, that is, if you encounter a similar area you should gather all available information and forward it to us for a decision.

LAA:lt

cc:

--- --- Dist. – Dist. Admin.
Mr. B. D. Doyle
Mr. R. Nunes
Mr. T. P. Putnam