Long Beach Accused of Gouging Boat Owners Over Marina Fees

A boat owners group has filed a claim that accuses the city of Long Beach of nautical rent gouging.

Boat-slip fees are unfairly high in the city’s municipal marinas, the Long Beach Marina Boat Owners Assn. charges in the claim, saying the city is using the money to bail out an ailing fund that supports such services as beach cleaning.

The claim asks for an independent audit of the city’s marine funds. It also demands that the city stop using fees paid by boaters for anything other than paying off bonds and making improvements directly related to boating. The city rents about 4,000 slips downtown and in Alamitos Bay.

The City Council has approved an increase of 4% in boat-slip fees in the coming fiscal year, the same as the increase this year. The monthly fee for a 30-foot boat, for example, will increase from $7.07 per foot to $7.36 per foot, starting Saturday. The average slip fee for public and private marinas in Southern California is $8.10 per foot, city officials said.