NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release
	Contact: Kelly Hokkanen InforME/Maine.gov kelly@informe.org 207-621-2600 x28

AUGUSTA, Maine – May 19, 2009 – The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife announced today the availability of an online boat registration renewal system. The online system, available at www.maine.gov/online/boat/, allows residents or non-residents to renew their Maine boat registration online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Payment for registration renewal fees and municipal excise tax fees can be made in one seamless, secure transaction using a Visa, MasterCard, or Discover credit or debit card.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife oversees the 120,000 boat registrations completed each year in the state. Prior to the online service, boat owners were required to visit the Department or their municipal office to complete this transaction. This made registering a boat an inconvenience to boat owners as well as a strain on municipal and Department staff resources. The new online service provides a user-friendly and convenient method for renewing. It is anticipated that a high number of boat owners will opt for the online approach to registrations versus the traditional in-person method.

“Putting services online greatly improves the interaction of citizens with government,” said Roland “Danny” Martin, Commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “This has pushed our Department to create online options for many high-demand citizen services including hunting and fishing licenses and hunting lottery applications. Not only are citizens happier, but it is saving the Department many staff hours – staff hours which are greatly needed for other functions, especially in these hard budget times.”

In order to use the online renewal service, the citizen’s legal residence town or, for non-residents, the town in which the boat is primarily moored or docked, must participate in the online service. Participation by municipalities is voluntary, but is necessary in order for local excise tax dollars to be processed online and remitted to the town. Currently, 117 municipalities participate in the online service. To see if your town participates in the service, please visit the Web site. If you do not see the town listed, you may complete a “Request Participation” form.

This online service was developed in partnership with InforME, the state of Maine’s eGovernment services provider, and is not funded by taxpayer dollars. Maine.gov also offers 400 other interactive online services, including hunting and fishing licenses, hunting lottery applications, trailer and vehicle registration renewal, and ATV and snowmobile registration.

About Maine.gov
Maine.gov (http://www.Maine.gov) is the official Web portal of the State of Maine and an eight-time winner in the Center for Digital Government’s Best of Web competition. Maine.gov is a service of the Information Resource of Maine (InforME), a collaborative effort between the State of Maine and Maine Information Network, LLC. Maine Information Network is the official eGovernment solutions partner for the State of Maine. The company builds and manages interactive government services on behalf of the state and is a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGov).

About NIC
NIC is the nation’s leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions. The company’s innovative eGovernment services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens, and businesses across the country. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,900 federal, state, and local agencies that serve more than 70 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at www.nicusa.com.

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