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 State could impose fees on certain dock owners
DOUGLAS JORDAN l Waterfront Times
A bill that recently passed through the state legislature has some local waterfront homeowners worried about paying additional fees for their docks.
Officially called HB 13/SB 88, the bill unanimously passed both the House on Feb. 29 and the Senate on March 8.
The bill, which was sent to Gov. Rick Scott on April 20, deals with what the state calls “sovereignty submerged lands,” referring to the underwater property that many homeowners’ docks are built upon. If approved, the law will go into effect on
July 1.
Confusion seems rampant on the precise intention of the bill and how it will affect residents with docks.
The way it reads, “private residential single-family docks and piers, private residential multifamily docks and piers, and private residential multi-slip docks” will be affected. If passed, such docks and “related structures” could be inspected by the state Department of Environmental Protection, which could also impose fees and “additional requirements.”
Finger canals are unaffected because they’re not public land, which includes navigable waterways such as the Intracoastal, the New River and and Dania Cut-Off Canal.
A state DEP representative said some people are misinterpreting the bill’s intent.
“I think there's a little confusion here,” said DEP spokesperson Dee Ann Miller. “This bill was intended to give facilities for condominiums and multi-family a reduced rate of their lease fees.”
Miller said that the state already charges people who rent their docks out to others a rate of approximately 16 cents per square foot for the docking structure and berthing area, or 6 percent on the revenues for any rental or sale of slips, whichever is higher.
She said there is no charge for facilities that do not use more than 10 square feet for every 1 foot of linear shoreline of their upland ownership.”
Patience Cohn, of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, said the average homeowner with a dock and boat has “nothing to worry about.”
“Basically, in most cases, you don't own the land your dock is built on, anyway,” Cohn said. “That land is public property, owned by the state, and you have a permit to have a dock there.”
She said that in the case of most single-family private homes, the owners are not required to pay the state anything to lease that land.
But the new bill will affect those who are renting out their docks to others, Cohn said.
Joanne Becker, who with husband Frank Becker owns Becker Marine Services, calls the bill “nebulous” and “unspecific,” and takes issue with provisions in it that she says will allow the state to send inspectors to every dock on state waters.
Becker said she was surprised the bill passed so quickly, “apparently without any advertised notice and without any public hearings being held.
“Almost no one in the city is aware of this pending legislation, and we are being blindsided,” she said.
"Apparently, this is an attempt to make money for the state from dock rentals, which, ironically, are illegal for single family homes in the City of Fort Lauderdale.”
She also disagreed with the idea that average dock owners won't be affected.
“They're going to compile a huge database, and they'll be able to tell you that you can’t use your dock if it doesn't pass,” Becker said. “The permit process already in place is arduous and annoying. This is going to make it worse.”
Former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle is also against it. Both Becker and Naugle sent letters to Scott, asking him to veto the bill.
Naugle is suspicious of the bill’s language and the explanation he’s gotten from state officials.
“They’re being disingenuous about what the bill will do,” Naugle said. “They've told me otherwise, but the language as I read it — and I've got 24 years of law-making experience — says that anybody who owns more than one boat will be penalized. It’s like a one-family, one-boat rule.”
Becker and Naugle said that if passed the bill will discourage people from buying boats, which would hurt the marine industry. And Becker said it would chase away people who bring their boats to Florida during the winter.
But Cohn maintains "nothing will be changed, really,” by the bill.
“If you've got a house with a dock, and you keep your own boat there, the state says, ‘Ok, no problem,’” Cohn said. “Of course, if you’re making money off public land, meaning you’re getting income from renting your dock space, then you’ll have to pay for it. But that’s only fair.”
Cohn said the payment would not be a tax, but a fee to the state, and that the law wasn’t going to have much affect on the marine industry.
Becker remains skeptical about the state’s intent.
“The economy of this area is largely dependent on boating, and that extends to a lot of levels,” she said.
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