Buried inside LD 850, a sprawling tax reduction bill sponsored by Rep. Thomas Watson, D-Bath, is an outline of new taxation on “amusement and recreational services” that’s neither laughable, nor relaxing.

Under Watson’s proposal, a slew of entertainment options for Mainers would lose their sales tax exemptions. Aquarium passes, for example. Dirigible rides. Admission to puppet shows and miniature golf courses, book fairs, whitewater rafting parks, zoological gardens, and movie theaters are included, among many, many others.

Yes, the title of Watson’s bill is “An Act to Reduce Taxation.” That’s not a misprint, although it seems like one. The levies on amusement and recreation are part of the bill’s plan to broaden sales taxes, thereby relieving pressure on property and income taxes. The notion is quite sound.

One part raising eyebrows, though, is the bill’s characterization of health clubs and fitness centers as “amusement and recreation” services subject to the same tariffs as horse races, golf courses, dance halls, bowling alleys, billiard parlors, petting zoos and wagon rides, etc.

Given the novelty of the various definitions of amusement and recreation inside LD 850 – magic shows! – it is easy to be glib about the inclusion of health clubs. But the issue of increasing taxes on fitness – something Mainers aren’t known for embracing even at current costs – raises justified questions about its potential as a disincentive.

Fitness club owners are predictably irate about the prospect of increased taxes on their services. Patrons are befuddled. Two University of Southern Maine students, while jogging on treadmills inside a health club, recently told the Portland Press-Herald a sales tax on fitness clubs is quizzical, at best.

“Maine as it is, people need to work out more than they do,” one of the students, Morgan O’Halloran, told the newspaper. “We don’t need any more discouragement.” A sound notion, as well.

Health clubs have attacked the loss of their sales tax exemption as “flying in the face” of legislative efforts to control the cost of health care. They say $357 million is spent annually on medical costs related to obesity in Maine, where about half of residents are overweight or obese.

The easy solution is to remove health clubs, fitness centers, and their ilk from LD 850’s categorization as “amusement or recreational services.” Few, if any, will say they go to the gym for amusement or recreation.

LD 850 has much to applaud, and serious investigation into shifting Maine’s tax burden away from property and income is always welcome. Watson’s bill has given the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Taxation, which heard testimony on it Monday, plenty to chew on.

Losing the idea of health clubs as amusement or recreation to be taxed is the first thing they should do.