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Letter to the editor

Marina fees could rise

Rental fees aren't covering costs, city officials tell the council.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 16, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] Bradley the pit bullterrier checks out the day's catch as Mike Norbom prepares to clean the mess for a charter customer where the Daisy Mae VI is docked at the Clearwater Municipal Marina.

CLEARWATER - The fee to rent a slip at Clearwater's Municipal Marina should go up to cover the rising cost of running the marina, city officials say, but City Council members are skeptical.

"It's not fair," council member George N. Cretekos said Monday of the proposed increase. Already, he said, the construction to create the Beach Walk promenade is hurting beach business.

But city staff members say the fee increase is needed to prevent the cost of running the marina from falling onto property tax payers.

Assistant City Manager Ron Irwin said the municipal marina operates as a self-supporting enterprise fund. Therefore, he said, its operation should be paid for by user fees, not from tax dollars from the general fund.

"The program is running a deficit," Irwin said. During this fiscal year, that shortfall is expected to amount to $175,000.

If changes are not made, the city expects that a $300,000 shortfall in fiscal year 2008 will rise to a shortfall of nearly $450,000 in 2012.

The 209-slip marina's financial woes are a result of a 5.5 percent fee on gross revenue that the city requires each enterprise fund to pay to the city's general fund, officials said. The 2006 fiscal year was the first time the fee was paid and it totaled nearly $300,000.

So now city officials are talking about raising the monthly slip rental fee, which stands at $5.29 per foot for residents and $9.14 per foot for nonresidents.

After five years of the proposed increases, the fee for city residents would rise to $14.84 per foot per month.

For a resident owner of a 30-foot boat, that represents an increase from $158.70 per month now to $445.20 per month in 2012.

But city officials say that would still be less than what it will cost to dock a boat at the new slips the city plans to build downtown.

The five-year business plan, presented to the City Council on Monday by city director of marine and aviation Bill Morris, calls for incremental increases in slip rentals for Clearwater residents starting with a 15 percent increase for the 2008 fiscal year.

That would be followed by a 25 percent increase in each of the next four years. All slip fees were increased 10 percent on June 2007.

City officials say Clearwater still has some of the cheapest fees around.

Nonresidents would see their per-month, per-foot fees rise to $16.25 per foot by the 2012 fiscal year.

The rates for commercial vessels would increase 15 percent for the 2008 fiscal year, 25 percent in 2009 and 2010, then 10 percent in 2011 and 2012.

The plan also calls for charging more for the commercial slips along Coronado Drive.

City staff members have recommended amending dock permits so that a slip's ownership would revert to the city when a vessel is sold.

In addition, the plan suggests that the city decrease the fuel discount given to boaters.

The council is scheduled to discuss the proposed plan further at its Wednesday meeting.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached dalee@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

[Last modified October 15, 2007, 21:51:27]