Watch Senator Eichorn present his bill.

St. Paul – The Senate Tax Committee on Tuesday morning heard a bill by Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) that would expand an existing sales tax exemption to Minnesota’s nonprofit snowmobile clubs to help with building and maintaining the state’s 22,000 miles of snowmobile trails.

“Minnesota is fortunate to have one of the best snowmobile trail systems in the country,” Eichorn said. “Those trails are mostly developed and maintained by volunteers in local snowmobile clubs and are in constant need of grooming and maintenance. For these clubs, it is a labor of love – they donate their time and energy and raise money to fund this work so the rest of us can play all winter. Expanding this sales tax exemption is not just a way to show our gratitude; it will make their work a little bit easier.”

Under current law, if a nonprofit snowmobile club buys equipment, like grooming machines and attachments, to groom state snowmobile trails they don’t have to pay sales taxes on the purchase. Senator Eichorn’s bill would expand the sales tax exemption to include materials and supplies used to build, fix, maintain, or improve snowmobile trails.

The sales tax exemption only applies if the club received a grant from the state for taking care of the trails in the last three years. 

More than 20,000 of the 22,000 miles of state snowmobile trails are considered “grant-in-aid” trails. Local snowmobile clubs, consisting of volunteers across the state, are often relied on to manage the development and maintenance of those trails, in conjunction with local governments and the Department of Natural Resources.