Thanks to Bertram and the Jefferson County Moorage Tenants Union for making this information public on their website.
Port Administration Moorage Rate increase Proposal for 2015
The following is the rate proposal presented to the Commissioners by the Administration (see chart). They want to raise our base rate from $40.00 a month to $58.25 per month. Add Leasehold taxes of 12.84% and that comes to a whopping $20.59 increase in the base rate. This means your rates will go up anywhere from 4.7 to 11.3%, depending on your boat’s size, yet the Administration claims that this rate increase is only 2%. The only way they could possibly justify this would be to make the electric rate of $8.25 MANDATORY, which they are proposing. Evidently, the Port assumes most of us already pay that. However,there are a number of people who do not use electricity, especially in the warmer weather. Plus, in most ports in Western Washington, electricity is an optional deal. Why should we be forced to pay for what we don’t use?
Commissioner Tucker had promised to remove the environmental fee, but the Port is simply converting the $10.00 fee that you are currently paying to part of the permanent moorage fee. It appears that they have been operating as if this surcharge was part of the base rate structure all along. Renaming it and continuing to charge it plus leasehold tax is nothing more than a shell game.
So if you don’t want to be forced to pay the electric fee, or you feel the environmental fee should be eliminated and not hidden in the new fee structure, it’s time to voice your objection to the Commissioners NOW, because they will be voting on this in the next few weeks. Your silence could cost you an extra $247.08 next year.
Port Administration Moorage Rate increase Proposal for 2015
Information thanks to the Jefferson County Moorage Tenants Union| Slip size | 2014 with tax | Proposed 2015 | Annual rate | % increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 foot | 182.67 | 203.26 | 2439.12 | 11.3% |
| 27 foot | 199.60 | 220.19 | 2642.42 | 10.3% |
| 30 foot | 224.09 | 244.68 | 2936.16 | 9.1% |
| 35 foot | 283.88 | 304.47 | 3653.64 | 7.3% |
| 40 foot | 326.78 | 347.37 | 4168.44 | 6.3% |
| 45 foot | 381.79 | 402.38 | 4828.56 | 5.3% |
| 50 foot | 441.20 | 461.79 | 5541.48 | 4.7% |