1 week Ago
Boat slip renters at the Oceanside harbor could be charged a flat rate for electricity and water beginning Jan. 1, an advisory committee said last week. Utilities so far have been included at no charge in the monthly slip rental fee, which is based on the size and type of the space.
The additional flat fee for utilities is a change from an earlier proposal to install individual meters on the slips. In 2023, the harbor committee authorized studies to determine whether it would be practical to install the meters, one of several ideas the city considered to generate additional revenue for much-needed harbor improvements. The research showed a flat-rate system would save between $7 million and $8 million on installations by avoiding the additional equipment, software and labor needed for meters, Harbor Division Manager Joe Ravitch said.
“It’s a very complex electrical engineering project,” Ravitch said. “We discovered we would like the idea of flat rates.” Even without meters the utility connections on the harbor docks and gangways must be improved or replaced to meet current building codes, he said.
That work alone will cost $5 million or more. As proposed, the added monthly utility fees for the harbor’s smallest recreational slip, which is 26 feet, would be $13 for electricity and $9 for water, a total of $22. The monthly rent on a 26-foot slip is a little under $500 under a rate increase effective Jan.
1, 2024. The largest recreational slip available, 51 feet, would see a flat rate of $39 for electricity and $21 for water, a total of $60 added to the monthly rent of $1,249.50.
The increased slip fees, metered utilities and other measures proposed in 2023 were expected to generate about $13.6 million in additional revenue over the next 15 years, according to a city staff report. The money was to help pay for overdue maintenance or replacement of harbor facilities such as docks, gangways, gates, pilings, rip-rap and jetties.
Oceanside’s harbor has close to 1,000 recreational and commercial boat slips. About one in 10 of the recreational slip renters live aboard their vessels. The so-called “live-aboards” would pay an additional utilities surcharge ranging from $9 for a 26-foot slip to $31 or more for a 54-foot slip.
Harbor user James Johnson told the committee a flat rate is unfair to some slip renters, particularly those who pay for live-aboard status but only stay on their boats a few days at a time. “I’m only in the harbor three days a week,” Johnson said, and the rest of the time he lives somewhere else. Others said the length of time a slip is used should not be a factor.
“A lot of people are paying fees and not using it, but that’s their decision,” said committee member Les George. For years, the harbor has had a waiting list for slip rentals that, as of March, had 234 names for regular spaces and 117 for live-aboards. Oceanside’s harbor was built in the 1960s.
It shares an entrance channel with Camp Pendleton’s boat basin, which was built in 1942 at the outset of World War II..
