Raising the Mooring Rates - But Only on the Little Guy?

On Wednesday, the Newport City Council finally got around to increasing the city mooring rates - which are among the cheapest in New England.

Ordinarily, I would be pleased to see that the council was able to find non-tax revenue.  But the way it's applied seems terribly unfair to the small boater.  You see, the council raised the rates by 30%, but ONLY for boats 22' and under.  The council actually exempted yachts 23' and up from any increase.  This seems wrong, and I'm hoping we can fix it.

Newport has approximately 940 moorings.  They are highly coveted, and all but a handful are renewed every year.  There is a waiting list of between 12-16 years depending on your preferred mooring location.  If you are a non-resident, you should probably expect a longer wait, because the policy is to issue to Newport residents first.

Mooring fees have long been eyed as a potential source of non-tax revenue.  And a 16 year waiting list is a pretty good indicator that they are underpriced.  I actually proposed increasing mooring rates this summer.  But no councilor would support it, even though it promised to increase non-tax revenue by up to $500,000 per year - and so the revenue proposal died.

But last night in a two-line edit contained within a 20-page document, the council voted 6-1 to increase mooring rates on the smallest boat owners by 30%, while exempting the larger yacht owners from ANY increase.  In opposing this ordinance change, I pointed out to the council members that they were raising mooring rates only on the "little guy," but it passed on first reading, without question or comment.

I am hoping that over the next two weeks, the council can work together to come up with a plan to share those rate increases more fairly.  The leadership fought my request to increase mooring fees in July.  But now they have approved a plan to increase mooring fees by 30% and ONLY on the small boater.  

I am having a hard time understanding any reason behind this action.  Why should the owner of a 35' boat get an exemption from a rate increase, when the owner of a 16' boat is hit with a 30% rate hike?

We would never raise tax rates on a $175,000 house by 30%, while keeping tax rates the same for million-dollar homes.

Similarly, we would never raise water or sewer rates by 30% for the people living in a $175,000 home, while keeping the rates the same for people living in million-dollar homes.

It was wrong to increase mooring rates on small boaters, while exempting the larger yachts.  

I'm hoping that we can amend this ordinance at the second (and final) hearing on 2/26 so that the 30% rate hike is shared equally by everyone.  If a 30% rate hike was OK for the owner of a 20' boat, let's make sure that the same rate hike is applied to the owner of a 35' boat, and every other moored boat.

Whether you agree or disagree, let your councilor know if you support a uniform 30% mooring rate increase on ALL boats, not just on the small ones.