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Amendment 6 could give state's working waterfront a tax break
by JOHN BERNARDO, Waterfront News
The sight is common throughout Florida: High-rise condos looming over a waterfront anchored by fewer marine repair shops and working boatyards. As taxes rise, boat facilities have sold out to developers in recent years. Now state constitutional Amendment 6 would give a tax break to waterfront businesses that don’t convert their land to more lucrative condos and resorts. The ballet initiative goes before voters on Nov. 4.
“South Florida is about water, yachting, boating, and fishing,” said Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish. “The marine industry is … a big part of our economy and if these businesses are not protected, then everyone would sell out to a developer.” Broward currently taxes working waterfront on its actual use. Marine facilities are located mostly along Fort Lauderdale’s New River, the Dania Cut-Off Canal and adjacent waterways.
But in many Florida counties including Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, waterfront land is appraised by its market, or best value. Rising taxes force many property owners to sell to developers who often build upscale condos with private dockage, leaving less public dock space for boaters and fewer places to have boat work performed.
If passed, Amendment 6 would require all working waterfront to be taxed on its current use. Frank Herhold, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, says approval of Amendment 6 would bring equilibrium to the industry. “It needs to be passed. There’s plenty of horror tales in Palm Beach.”
Florida’s marine industry “generates a greater economic output than both the state’s cruise ship and citrus industries combined,” states a website sponsored by political action committee Save Our Waterfronts, sponsors of the proposed legislation. Over $18 billion from marine businesses is pumped into the state’s economy, contributing about 220,000 jobs, the group states.
South Florida’s waterscape includes public docks and marinas, drystacks, commercial fishing operations, boat launches, marine vessel repair and construction complexes and marine manufacturing companies that all depend on water. Restaurants too have become less familiar on the waterfront.
As these facilities vanish, so too do jobs, said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle. “Marine businesses create and maintain nice, labor-intensive jobs and stimulate our local economy.”
Marine services can’t easily relocate since they’re dependent on direct access to the water, Naugle said. “Marinas and boatyards need to be here on the water but condos don’t have to be built on the water; they can be built on land,” he said. “We are now very concerned about the loss of marine companies to residential development in Palm Beach and especially on the Miami River; that would definitely affect our industry and economy here.”
The amendment grew out of a grassroots effort from marine businesses whose industry is already hurting from dropping boat sales and fewer skilled marine workers. Some marine businesses have relocated outside Florida to areas with a lower cost of living.
If approved by 60 percent of voters, the new tax system would take effect Jan.1, 2010. Requiring a clear majority makes approval tougher, said amendment sponsor State Rep. Dennis Ross. The presidential election is expected to boost the number of voters coming out.
Limited funding has been available for advertising or polling to gauge the proposed amendment’s approval rating. “It’s really a question of making sure we educate the voters,” said Ross, who spoke on the issue Sept. 24 at the 10th Annual Marine Summit in Palm Beach.
Taxes on “coastal property has gone up dramatically, as opposed to other type properties,” said Rodney Clouser, a University of Florida economics professor specializing in public policy. But whether the amendment would spare more marine businesses from going condo is hard to say. A devastating hurricane or other harsh economic factors such as a downturn in the boating industry could also prompt boatyard owners to sell, Clouser said. Municipal coffers could suffer from the reduced revenue source, and cities may try to recoup taxes in other ways. The amendment also does not specify how long marine businesses must keep their property at its current use, nor does it have provisions to recoup lost tax revenue from “best use” if a business owner converts to condos anyway.
Ross said a thriving marina could bring more tax dollars to city coffers than declining real estate in today’s market, especially if condos become a glut on the market. Some cities say that the amendment will help keep a marine culture going, especially in areas like the Panhandle where a working waterfront reflects a generational way of life, Clouser said.
John Terrill, chairman of the City of Fort Lauderdale Marine Advisory Board backs Amendment 6 because, “we have only seen a negative return on conversions from marine businesses to condos.”