Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave R
Wolfeboro could charge people to use the docks during busy times and easily make enough money to maintain, improve and expand them. Charge $.25 per foot LOA per hour with a 1 hour minimum and 3 hour maximum during peak times. There's about 1320 linear feet of usable dock space, so say they can fill 1200 feet, that's 300 bucks an hour. Pay a couple of people 15 bucks an hour to manage the docks and collect the money and the town would still be making at least 250 bucks an hour when the docks are full. Realistically, they could probably double the rate and still fill the docks. They could even put the dock space on Dockwa and let people reserve and pay ahead of time with the app. I use Dockwa all the time to reserve docks and moorings, it's brilliant.
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It seems that the problem is the summertime crowding. Your solution says that the answer is to create yet another fee that requires complex management and hiring people to administer it. Further, it sends a message that Wolfeboro isn't happy with all the money being spent by all its visitors and is going to gouge more out of them.
There are other issues created by summertime crowding as well. For example, police coverage. More people requires more police coverage in the summer for many purposes. Should Wolfeboro charge a summer "Police" fee when you come into town to defray the extra summertime costs of policing? After all, why should the residents pay more in taxes for this? They already pay the cost for the nominal police coverage THEY need.
The EXISTING solution is the property tax system. WHEN the voters or their reps decide that the existing docking is insufficient and it is in the general interest of the town to expand the docks, they will fund it and taxes, including those on businesses, will cover the cost. The businesses will indirectly pass on to visitors the extra tax costs in their prices and the visitors will happily pay it. Residents will pay the increase and might consider the costs required to live in a lively and prosperous resort town.
I might point out that Meredith expanded and improved their docks a ways back and there are no "docking meters" there. Further, there are STILL a lot of boats waiting for spots on busy weekend afternoons proving that demand is still increasing and outstrips supply. Considering that the docks are almost completely empty for 6 months of the year it is a valid question of how much effort and expense should be put into a time limited (summertime) and perhaps insolvable problem. It's an issue of Return on Investment and perhaps the current situation is a good balance. Perhaps not. Either way, IMO, it's a matter for the town government and the existing property tax system to manage.