THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504140159
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Another View
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
I am a boater. My wife and I have been coming to Portsmouth for 2 1/2 years. Rain, shine, sleet or snow, we're here every weekend. And, most often our weekends begin on Thursdays, after lunch, and end on Tuesday mornings. We are semi-retired and hope to be fully retired by fall of '95. So, you see, we spend a great deal more time in Portsmouth than we do in our hometown of Richmond.
We have a home in one of Richmond's more exclusive neighborhoods, but we would much rather be on our boat in Portsmouth. Our home is for sale and our plan had been to continue weaning ourselves from our business in Richmond and to buy a small home in Portsmouth that would serve as home base for our boating travels.
Efforts to change the Portsmouth personal property tax rate applicable to boats could change our plans, and I thought it might be timely to share my thoughts regarding this.
First of all, I would never have considered Portsmouth as home for my boat had it not been for the one cent per $100 tax. I am sure you will agree, the Portsmouth waterfront is heavily industrial. The grime and soot that covers my boat daily is not pleasant and compounds my effort to keeping a clean boat. Then there's all the debris and oil in the water caused by the heavy commercial traffic. This is not normally a factor in marinas catering to recreational boating. However, I and most of my boating friends at Scotts Creek Marina, tolerate it because of the tax rate.
You might be saying to yourself, ``Well, if you don't like it, why don't you just leave?'' Well, we may, and many others like us may do the same. Would this be good for Portsmouth? I don't think so!
Let me show you something the city of Portsmouth will be losing in one year from me alone, using only the last 12 months as an example:
1. $300 a week for restaurants and entertainment, primarily in Portsmouth. That's $15,600 a year, including its related local taxes.
2. More than $10,000 a year in maintenance and repairs going to local mechanics, divers and businesses like Portsmouth Boating Center and Western Branch Diesel.
3. Almost $4,000 a year in dockage (including water and electricity) to Scotts Creek Marina.
4. About $3,000 a year for boat insurance through local brokers.
5. More than $7,500 a year for new equipment and installation; i.e., new air conditioning systems and radar equipment.
6. Almost $20,000 for electronic instrumentation to Portsmouth Center of Music.
When you add this together, it comes to over $60,000 we have spent in your fine city over the last 12 months. It would appear to me that for Richmonders, we are certainly supporting the people and the businesses of Portsmouth, and I don't know of any city services that we are using. Now, add to that the fact that we were planning to buy a home here, which would then place us on the city's tax roll. Then, add to that the taxes for autos, etc., that would also apply.
It sounds as though the old saying ``penny wise and pound foolish'' indeed applies to your intended economic direction for Portsmouth. You don't seem to appreciate all that penny tax is capable of generating. I do hope, however, that the Council continues to see the wisdom of using this method of attracting money into the community.
This is a serious issue for several hundred boaters who call Portsmouth home. There are many other places we can go; however, I would prefer to stay here. We've made some wonderful friends and would hate to part; however, the consensus of opinion amongst my fellow boaters is that most of the larger boats would leave, thereby further impacting Portsmouth's economy.
The truth of the matter is simple, Portsmouth has everything to gain and nothing to lose by leaving the present tax rate for boats in effect permanently. With the tremendous potential of the Portsmouth waterfront yet to be realized, it would be a shame to squelch it now.
E.P. ``Mike'' Phillips
Midlothian by CNB