Morro Bay Harbor’s crumbling enbamkments, battered seawalls, and deteriorating pilings are all in need of repair.
The infrastructure has supported boats and more in Morro Bay for years, and it’s long past due for crucial repairs. But a lack of money has prevented the city from doing much to prevent the decay. Primary funding for the harbor comes from waterfront leases, also known as the Waterfront Enterprise Fund. But Eric Endersby, the city’s harbor manager, said that the fund is a finite resource that isn’t enough to pay for all the repairs.
“[There’s] more use of the bay in the waterfront, and the costs of taking care of that have gone up with that usage, in addition to the cost of employment, materials, insurance, and just everything else that’s associated with it,” Endersby said. “We’re not spending more than we take in. But we’re not taking in sufficiently more than we spent like we did in the past.”
A new measure on the Nov. 8 election ballot addresses the cost of fixing that failing infrastructure. Measure B-22 gained enough voter signatures to make the ballot after several people—including Friends of the Morro Bay Harbor Department member Homer Alexander—circulated a petition earlier this year. The measure aims to place a $120 per year parcel tax on all property owners in the city, and all the revenue generated through that tax is earmarked for city-owned harbor-related property such as docks, piers, seawalls, and retaining walls.
‘I think everybody considers the harbor our crown jewel, so to speak, in the city. And it’s what attracts tourists here. … And if the harbor deteriorates, the tourists will go to Pismo Beach and spend their dollars there.’ —Homer Alexander, Friends of the Morro Bay Harbor Department member
“I think everybody considers the harbor our crown jewel, so to speak, in the city. And it’s what attracts tourists here. All the tax dollars that the tourists generate, which is pretty significant, represents a big portion of the city’s general budget that goes into what’s known as the city’s general fund,” Alexander said. “That money pays for our police department, our fire department, and maintaining our streets plus a myriad of other things that cities have to pay for. And if the harbor deteriorates, the tourists will go to Pismo Beach and spend their dollars there.”
Proponents of the measure estimate that the parcel tax’s annual revenues will total around $680,000, which will be managed by an independent citizens oversight committee. The measure needs more than 50 percent of votes from residents to pass, but not everyone is on board.
Betty Winholtz, co-chair of the Citizens for Affordable Living MB, and several other members wrote an opposition letter against the measure, claiming that money for repairing harbor infrastructure should come from transient occupancy taxes (TOT) and sales taxes collected from business along the Embarcadero.
“What we’re suggesting, and what the leaseholders on the Embarcadero have said they would support, is that the tax that’s collected only along the Embarcadero or the TOT that’s collected only along the Embarcadero” stays in the harbor, Winholtz said. “All the rest of the taxes, all the rest of the TOT still goes into the general fund.”
Harbor Manager Endersby said that approach would’ve worked 15 years ago when the amount of money collected from sales tax, TOT, and property tax revenue would have been sufficient to cover the costs of infrastructure. But, if the city did that today, it would have to cut funding from other departments, he said, because the money it brings in from those taxes is a finite resource.
“You have to start looking at police, fire, public recreation services, all the other things that the general fund [covers], but you’d have to pull from some of those sources,” Endersby said.
Citizens for Affordable Living MB co-chair Dan Sedley and city resident and property owner Barry Branin have raised concerns about the necessity of Measure B-22, citing the fluctuating consumer price index, inflation, and Measure Q—a half-cent sales tax that was passed in 2006.
“The fact of the matter is people are already hurting right now. They’re not making it. I’m hearing people that are having trouble making their rent, having trouble paying for gasoline and utilities,” Sedley said. “They can’t afford to live here anymore.”
Measure B-22’s language includes a clause that states the tax “shall be automatically adjusted annually, unless otherwise directed by the city, commencing as of the 2025-26 tax year, for inflation by the change in the ‘consumer price index for all urban consumers California.'”
Both Sedley and Winholtz said they were also concerned that the tax measure has no end date, calling it a “forever tax.” But Alexander, with Friends of the Morro Bay Harbor Department, said there are ways citizens could change that in the future.
“Citizens can do what we did and go around and knock on doors and get signatures to get 10 percent of the registered voters to sign a petition to put it on the next ballot,” Alexander said. “Or the Morro Bay City Council—a simple majority of three people can vote to put it on the ballot to rescind the tax.”
Opponents of this measure say the city should use state and federal grant money to fund infrastructure repairs as an alternative to the measure. Winholtz noted that Morro Bay recently received two grants specifically for the harbor. But Endersby clarified that those grants—and any that the Harbor Department is applying for—aren’t applicable to general harbor infrastructure maintenance. They’re for specific things such as fixing launch ramps.
“Grant funding is never going to be a complete way of funding. It’s always hard to plan projects around grants if you don’t know you’re going to get the grant, so it kind of becomes a chicken and egg,” Endersby said. “I don’t think it can replace completely funded capital.”
Longtime Morro Bay resident Branin said that his big issue is the city’s lack of planning.
“Let’s put it this way: We all agree that the city needs funding. The question is not the funding. The question is what is the long-term goal and how are you going to structure it?” Branin said. “That’s never been done to the harbor. We’ve never had a long-range plan.”
The Committee for Morro Bay Harbor Parcel Tax Measure B-22 says it has a plan in mind, starting with a “thorough structural analysis of the city’s waterfront infrastructure,” according to its website.
As voters start getting their ballots in the mail, Endersby encourages residents to do their research before casting their votes.
“It takes time and effort to be an educated, informed voter and you need to do your research, do your homework, and ask questions,” Endersby said. Δ
Reach Staff Writer Shwetha Sundarrajan at shwetha@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 13-23, 2022.
Instead of charging everyone in the city a tax for this, it should focus on businesses and individuals that use the harbor (boaters who launch from the harbor, boat slip owners and renters, the yacht club, businesses located in or near the harbor, fishing and tour charter companies, etc). However, if they do enact a tax on everyone, it needs to have a stated revenue goal and end date.