Has anyone else heard about this or am I way behind on the latest???? This was in San Pedro Daily online....

Private Investigator: Dock Taxes
Q: The San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) is lobbying government to implement a new dock tax to be collected yearly by the SPTC. This tax will run anywhere from $5,000 for a residential dock up to $25,000 for a commercial dock. I think homeowners and business owners have a right to know what is going on and was thinking maybe you could find out the details and print it in your paper. Although, I have numerous concerns about this, the top problems I see is:
1. How is the town going to spend this new revenue of 100’s of thousands of dollars? They are saying to reverse environmental damage. Really?
2. Dive and tour companies with docks will have to increase their rates to make up for the astronomical 25K every year. Tour rates are already very expensive and tour companies with docks on the front of the island will have a disadvantage to companies that dock on the back side (the town is suggesting little or no tax for lagoon docks probably because they are all owned by locals with not much money).
A: You are right, on April 4th, 2008, the San Pedro Town Council sent a letter to Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Honorable Gaspar Vega. “For many years, San Pedro Town has had to cope with all the abuse and exploitation of our natural resources. The excess of piers and structures on crown land are causing beach erosions, damages to the reef and even pollution by those restaurants and spas that are constructed on these piers. In an effort to alleviate, control and possibly discontinue this practice, the San Pedro Town Council under recommendation of our Local Building Authority proposes that an impact fee be implemented. This impact fee is in an effort to not only discourage any new requests for piers but also to discourage the existing piers to be reconstructed after a natural disaster.
Therefore, the San Pedro Town Council cordially requests your Ministry’s assistance to authorizing the Council to charge this impact fees. The rates being proposed are as follows:
*Piers – between $5,000 and $15,000
*Structure – between $15,000 and $20,000
The exact rate will be determined by the size of the pier or the structure and on the damage it causes. The Council and the Local Building Authority both believe that the fee is minimal considering the damage and risks our natural resources are experiencing.”
Once approved, the monies garnered will be collected by the offices of the SPTC and will be used for a Beach Nourishment Project which is scheduled to begin as soon as possible. This project is aimed at reclaiming our beaches in the Town Core (Boca del Rio to Victoria House), as well as to curb the erosion presently occurring.
The Nourishment Project will use Geotubes which have been successfully used in over 50 countries. The Geotube technology has been used to stop storm damage, protect the environment, build custom structures, and even build islands where they didn’t exist before. Geotube containment technology is a proven, cost-effective method for a variety of shoreline protection and marine construction projects and was developed using input from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Once installed, it is the Council’s hope that the Boca del Rio Park beach, an area that has seen massive damage in the last few months, will be extended up to three times what it is now.
According to Chairman of the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority Deputy Mayor Juan Alamilla, pier owners to the west side of San Pedro Town will be charged minimal fees. However, the priority lies on the east side and the effects that piers are having there. “Once we have established the fees for the East, we will move on to the West and begin processing them accordingly,” he ended.
For further information, kindly contact Chairman Juan Alamilla at number (602) 3859. Read More...

Hmmm... wow.

This is pretty interesting... there has always been an annual "dock permit fee" but this will increase that by about 10X... It will be interesting to see who (and using what criteria) will assess exactly "how much dammage an existing dock is causing."

...and for people living/working north of town, having a pier (and rebuilding it after a storm) is somewhat a necessity... it's your driveway. Perhaps the SPTC should put revenues from this new tax towards constructing/maintaining a road up north then people would be less dependent upon water transportation (that of course, has its own implications impact-wise.)

And what about the env. impact of Geotubes (basically high tech jetty's) and seawalls with respect to currents, setiment, etc. How about an annual Seawall tax??? It's difficult to imagine that a 5' high rock covered Geotube jetty by Boca Del Rio is going to enhance the beach experience there...

...this all certainly opens a can of worms.

I can only imagine how much my HOA fees will go up!

Sounds a good way to kill off the diving tourist industry, which is the basis for all SP tourism, which is in turn the breadbasket for all of Belize. Are they on the same planet as the rest of us?

Point of detail - I don't see anywhere in the answer that it's an ANNUAL tax. It reads to me as a one-off.

"The San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) is lobbying government to implement a new dock tax to be collected yearly by the SPTC."

Your right pedro2....added cost of doing business could be as much as $35,000 PER YEAR for some businesses.

There's no way you could pass on that much added expense to the customers.

Everybody would be affected - businesses, customers, homeowners, even condo owners (like me) who have a large dock and seawall out front.

.... nothing against them for raising money from a variety of sources...looks like they want to raise it all from ONE source. Its not going to help the other situation...everyone being able to use the dock. I don't have one, but if someone didn't want others to use their dock I would certainly understand given the taxes they have to pay on it.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but the above mentioned "Geotubes" are basically large/strong fabric "tubes" or containers that are filled with dredged up materials/sludge... the water drains out, solids stay inside... they're used to make jetty's and sea walls...

See http://www.geotubes.com/marine/marine_index.html for some pics of areas where they have been used.

So the SPTC is planning on assessing a tax on EXISTING piers, in part for the "environmental impact" they are having, then they will take that $ to purchase large bags to be filled with material dredged up to try to prevent erosion.

Brilliant.

May I ask what happens to the beach/water SOUTH of any constructed Geotube where the water will stagnate? Go look at the water in front of any seawall on the island and let me know how attractive you think it is? Go on, wade around in it and let me know...

Jetty's and seawalls (Geotubes or whatever you might name them) do little to "protect the environment" as suggested above. They protect property. Beaches and shorelines are fluid... There is a constant ebb and flow back and forth. Beaches erode and change, that's what they do. If the SPTC is trying to prevent flooding and protect property, sure, put up jetty's and seawalls... If you're trying to "nourish" the beaches, dump a bit of sand on them, spread it out, enjoy it and yes, watch it probably wash away... then do it all over again.

Hey,,, why sweat it,,, In 20 years it will all be under 20' of water,, the ice bergs are melting.

Probably those folks who have ideas and/or strong views on this subject should contact the officials who make decisions ---

BTW - I've seen one geo-tube in place on the island and it seems to have worked pretty nicely. i don't like sea walls, but this geo-tube was essentially invisible and did not have the stagnant pools etc that one might fear.