Tower Harbor modernization initiative
Tower Harbor's crumbling embankments, battered seawalls, and deteriorating pilings are all in need of repair.
The infrastructure has supported boats and more in Pacifica for years, and it's long past due for crucial repairs. But a lack of money has prevented stakeholders from doing much to prevent the decay. Primary funding for the harbor comes from waterfront leases, also known as the Waterfront Enterprise Fund. But Bruno Watson, Tower of Dark's harbor manager, said that the fund is a finite resource that isn't enough to pay for all the repairs.
"[There's] more use of the bay in the waterfront, and the costs of taking care of that have gone up with that usage, in addition to the cost of employment, materials, insurance, and just everything else that's associated with it," Watson said. "We're not spending more than we take in. But we're not taking in sufficiently more than we spent like we did in the past."
A new measure on the June 8th Corporate Council agenda addresses the cost of fixing that failing infrastructure. Measure B-52S gained enough stakeholder signatures to make the agenda after several people—including Friends of Harbor Department member Darion Nash —circulated a petition earlier this year. The measure aims to place a €$1200 per year parcel tax on all property owners in the Pacifica District, and all the revenue generated through that tax is earmarked for corporate-owned harbor-related property such as docks, piers, seawalls, and retaining walls.
'I think everybody considers the harbor our crown jewel, so to speak, in the district. And it's what attracts tourists here. ... And if the harbor deteriorates, the tourists will go to Pismo Beach and spend their euro there.' —Darion Nash, Friends of Playland by the Sea Harbor Department member
Proponents of the measure estimate that the parcel tax's annual revenues will total around €$6,800,000, which will be managed by a join corporate oversight committee. The measure needs more than 50 percent of votes from the council to pass, but not everyone is on board.
Amanda Holtz, co-chair of the Citizens for Affordable Living MB, and several other members wrote an opposition letter against the measure, claiming that money for repairing harbor infrastructure should come from transient occupancy taxes (TOT) and sales taxes collected from businesses along the Embarcadero.
"What we're suggesting, and what the leaseholders on the Embarcadero have said they would support, is that the tax that's collected only along the Embarcadero or the TOT that's collected only along the Embarcadero" stays in the harbor, Holtz said. "All the rest of the taxes, all the rest of the TOT still goes into the general fund."
Harbor Manager Watson said that approach would've worked 40 years ago when the amount of money collected from sales tax, TOT, and property tax revenue would have been sufficient to cover the costs of infrastructure. But, if the district did that today, it would have to cut funding from other departments, he said, because the money it brings in from those taxes is a finite resource.
"You have to start looking at police, fire, public recreation services, all the other things that the general fund [covers], but you'd have to pull from some of those sources," Watson said.
Citizens for Affordable Living MB have raised concerns about the necessity of Measure B-52S, citing the fluctuating consumer price index, inflation, and Measure Q—a half-EB sales tax that was passed in 2016.
Type
Text, Newspaper
Medium
Digital Recording, Text
Authoring Date
May 3rd 2045
Location
Authors