It’s been a long time coming, nearly 20 years since fees have been increased for those enjoying Mattapoisett Harbor as their port of call. On a seriously cold January afternoon, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen met with John Cornish, chairman of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board and Harbormaster Jill Simmons to discuss fee increases.
For months, the MAB has pondered fee increases, oftentimes unable to come to a consensus as to what fees should be increased and by how much. But they finally came together and produced for the selectmen recommended increases on everything from mooring fees, to sticker fees, to fees for having a dinghy on a dock.
On January 19, the selectmen were able to also reach an agreement – increasing commercial mooring fees.
Selectman Paul Silva said, “Let’s make it simple.” To that end, they labored over the best way to achieve flat rate fees for commercial marinas in the harbor.
For decades, the town has had to attempt to collect boating data from marinas that purchased moorings from the town. That data was used to bill boaters for their sticker fees and to collect excise taxes due to the town. All in attendance on this evening agreed it was an imperfect system fraught with inconsistencies, errors, and omissions.
Simmons said marinas and similar commercial enterprises were required to provide the town with accurate records of who rented the moorings from them, but she and her staff had to make inspections to ensure that all watercraft were properly permitted.
The proposed new process eliminates those problems.
Commercial moorings are currently purchased from the town for $50 each. The new fee would be $60. Presently, boat owners are required to purchase stickers or permits from the town. In the new plan, the marinas would be responsible for collecting that fee and issuing the permit. The estimated total cost to the average boat owner would be $200.
And that isn’t the only change for businesses catering to the boating community. Business owners of commercial slips will now be charged a fee. Currently, they pay nothing. Now the town proposes to charge them an estimated $210 per slip, which would include the sticker. Again, the business owner would be responsible for handling the paperwork.
“That is a good system,” said Town Administrator Michael Gagne. “A flat fee – we won’t have to go chasing it.”
Cornish questioned whether business owners would go along with the changes to a flat rate, wondering about the expenses they would have to carry for a mooring they might not be able to rent.
“They can rent them or give them back to the town” Selectman Jordan Collyer said.
Silva said, “This is a pretty conservative increase,” noting the number of years since such fees were last examined and adjusted.
This is just the first step in a series of fee increases proposed by the MAB to bolster the revenue side of the waterfront enterprise fund.
Silva said increases would come into effect in February 2016.
By Marilou Newell
