The passage of Florida’s Amendment 6 was a one of the first successful attempts at helping the marina industry remain… well… the marina industry.  It appears that other legislators are trying as well.  Here’s an article published in HometownAnnapolis.com entitled “Bills try to keep sinking maritime industry afloat” that discusses tax credits for Maryland’s marinas.

By KATIE ARCIERI, Staff Writer Published February 09, 2009 With local maritime businesses struggling under darkening economic clouds, one Annapolis lawmaker is working to throw the industry a lifeline. Sen. John Astle, D-Annapolis, is sponsoring two bills that would provide financial relief for an industry that generations of Annapolitans have identified with. Industry experts said their businesses have become increasingly threatened by higher taxes, regulations and potential takeover by residential real estate developers. One bill Astle is sponsoring aims to help marinas and boatyards by making them eligible for property tax credits. The bill would expand the state’s definition of “working waterfront” to include all facilities that require direct access to the water. Under the bill, local maritime businesses such as boatyards and waterfront recreational facilities could take advantage of the tax credits. Currently, only marinas that lease slips to commercial fishing vessels are eligible for the property tax credits, said Susan Zellers, executive director of the Marine Trades Association of Maryland. The bill has not yet been introduced. The other bill would authorize grants from the state’s Waterway Improvement Fund to support the Maryland Clean Marina certification. Astle introduced the bill last month. Donna Morrow, administrator for the state’s Clean Marina Program, said private marinas seeking to be certified or recertified as a state clean marina can receive up to a 50 percent grant match of $35,000 from the fund. The money can be used to fund best-management practices such as wastewater-recycling facilities. At a general membership meeting of the Marine Trades Association of Maryland at Loews Annapolis Hotel last week, Astle said he hopes the two bills will pass this year. Industry experts said the iconic maritime industry has been facing pressure to sell properties to residential developers for the past several years, though that has been diminished somewhat by the tanking residential real estate market. Although that market has nose-dived, the pressure is still real today. Garrett Pensell, president of Tidewater Marina, which has locations in Annapolis and Havre de Grace, said local marinas have been offered plenty of deals to sell out to condominium developers. “I get them in the mail constantly,” he said. “It’s a constant stream of pressure.” Pensell, who also is a board member for the Marine Trades Association of Maryland, said legislation that expands the definition of working waterfront “forestalls the residential overtaking of public access facilities that we’re seeing all over the bay.” Both pieces of legislations stem from a state task force formed to study the Maryland boating industry. The task force, which met between October 2007 and last December, found that Maryland’s boating industry has a $2.5 billion economic impact and generates more than 32,000 jobs. It also analyzed challenges facing the industry. Astle, who sponsored a law requiring the task force, said some ideas it endorsed were not introduced in bill form because there were immediate costs attached. With the state facing budget deficits, “we didn’t want to take a chance” on those initiatives, he said. However, the two maritime bills he’s sponsoring this year have a good chance of passing because they don’t have immediate costs associated with them, he said. The Waterway Improvement Fund, for example, comes from a dedicated revenue stream, he said. Zellers said the fund’s revenue comes mostly from excise tax collected on the sale of boats in Maryland. Perhaps the biggest relief for maritime businesses will be the property tax-credits bill. Zellers said the amount of tax credits and eligibility criteria would be determined by individual counties. If passed, marinas would apply for the credits through their respective counties, she said. Another goal of the bill is to preserve access to the water. “They’re not making any more waterfront,” she said. “People are converting marine facilities to condominiums. It’s a universal issue across the country. Florida suffers from it horribly. It would be a great first step in Maryland to say, “The marine industry is important to us.” The state bills will be considered as the city floats some of its own ideas to help the local maritime industry. A recent study from the city’s Department of Economic Affairs recommends the creation of a Maritime Enterprise Zone that could provide a financing mechanism to boost local maritime employment. Dr. Joseph Cater, president of Market-Economics in Annapolis and author of the city study, said signs of turmoil in the maritime industry were apparent back in 2005. But the struggles were “overshadowed by the housing market,” he said. “Hopefully people are paying a little more attention to it,” he said.

These bills would both be good for marinas, but certainly the marina tax credit portion could be significant.  For many marina owners, they’re caught in a Catch 22 situation.  If their marina is over-assessed and they’re spending a lot extra in property taxes, they’ll still likely have to spend money they may not have to get it reduced.  A tax credit bill would give them the relief with no cost on their part.  More importantly, there is no court subjectivity involved – if passed it’s a done deal that they can count on.  What’s not to like?