Bill Would Take Mooring Revenue Away from Cities and Towns

Local officials are hoping to sink proposed legislation that would steer mooring revenue away from cities and towns and instead, give the money to the state.

In Newport, the city expects to collect $409,000 in mooring fees this fiscal year — the largest revenue source in the city’s maritime fund, which pays for harbor management operations.

But a bill introduced by Reps. Scott Slater of Providence and Joe Trillo of Warwick would take that money and give it to the state Department of Environmental Management “for the sole use of maintaining all harbors’ access and safety.”

At the same time, the bill, which has been introduced and referred to House Municipal Government committee, would set a new fee schedule for all moorings at a rate of $150 per mooring for vessels less than 500 pounds, $250 for vessels between 500 and 1,000 pounds and $500 for vessels that weigh more than 1,000 pounds.

The current rate for a mooring in Newport is 52 cents per anchor-weight pound with a minimum fee of $130.

Newport City Councilor Kate Leonard has expressed serious concerns about the proposed legislation, saying that it’s an example of the General Assembly “taking funding from municipalities to enhance the state budget while declaring to our residents and taxpayers that ‘the RI legislature has not raised your taxes. Your municipality has.”

In much the same way that state lawmakers have patted themselves on the back each year for not raising the state income tax at the same time cities and towns keep raising property taxes year after year after year, Leonard said the legislation will put a strain on local budgets.

“Most municipalities depend on this income for seawall maintenance, dingy docks, launch improvements, harbormaster services and facilities,” Leonard said in an e-mail message. “In Newport, our Harbor Facility welcomes and enhances the experience of boaters that come from throughout the world. These same boaters both locally and worldwide bring tourism and sailing dollars to the economy of our state and municipalities. If this legislation is passed in the House and progresses to the Senate, the result will be yet another raising of local taxes to counteract the loss of this funding. It is unconscionable.

In Portsmouth, the town expects to collect $65,000 in fees from moorings this fiscal year. There are about 1,500 moorings in the town.

The proposed legislation is likely to come up at a joint work session between members of the Newport City Council and the local legislative delegation on Saturday.

That meeting is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Newport Public Library in the program room.

The library is located at 300 Spring St.