Walter once bubbled...
The $10 is not a tax or a fee. It is a donation. It is not being presented as such and that misrepresentation is morally wrong. Send an e-mail to the Key Largo Chamber of commerce asking about the fee. They will tell you it is a voluntary donation, that such a requirement could not be enforced.
The only part of your post that I agree with is "that misrepresentation is morally wrong".
To wit I refer you to these excerpts.
From Florida Scuba News V19 N7 July 2002:
All Divers who wish to dive on the artificial reefs in the Key Largo area
must purchase a $10 plastic medallion, renewed annually, or purchase the gold lifetime sponsor medallion."
From
http://spiegelgrove.com/
"To defray the costs of cleanup, preparation, and towing, the
Key Largo Chamber of Commerce Artificial Reef Committee
will be selling medallions which will be
required for divers
wishing to visit the artificial reefs off the Upper Keys."
From Divers Direct catalog:
"Keys Wreck Diver Annual Badge
Item # 27477
Divers Direct Price - $10.00
The $10 annual medallion
will offer a keepsake plastic BC medallion and
access to any of the shipwrecks in the Upper Keys, including the Bibb, Duane, Eagle, and Spiegel Grove.
Annual Medallion:
To be purchased annually,
for
access to any of the
Upper Keys Artificial Reefs.
From Ocean Divers of Key Largo:
"medallions...will be a
prerequisite for divers wishing to visit the artificial reefs off the Upper Keys."
(emphasis mine)
So I guess it depends on who you ask, as it seems not everyone involved knows it's a "donation".
Are these people trying to intentionally mislead or is there some subliminal advertizing going on to sway a gullible public?
Warren