ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : This Tax Is a Shore Thing

There are few stones on dry land unturned in the quest for revenue, so it’s perhaps logical that the search for ways to balance the state’s books has come to the water’s edge. The landlocked poor already are taking their lumps, and now some of the state’s wealthiest residents, who have enjoyed rent-free docks in public waters, ought to pay their fair share.

Amid a budget crunch, the Legislature has rightly targeted an obscure 1978 law that exempts some owners of private boat docks and launching facilities from paying rent in waters under the jurisdiction of the State Lands Commission.

Owners of commercial marinas and oil platforms already pay these annual fees to the state. But the dock owners extracted their freebie on the dubious ground that there would be some “public benefit” during a boating emergency. That is, the pier owners would assist people in trouble. Obviously, lending a hand at sea when there’s an SOS shouldn’t require a tax break.

There are 120 dock owners in Huntington Harbour, the only area in Southern California where there is a concentration of these rent-free slips and docks.

Some boat owners argue that they already are being hit with high taxes because the value of their waterfront land is so high. Maybe so, but public land below the high-water mark is in effect being reserved exclusively for those who can afford boats and docks. The least these beneficiaries of public waterways can do is pay the rent to help the state balance its books. Now, the commission collects $170 million in rent each year, and it says it could gain between $225,000 and $675,000 annually by collecting on the recreational piers.

By the way, the search for revenue at ocean’s edge can be taken to an extreme. Port Hueneme is planning to charge beach-area homeowners $66 to $184 a year because they have good views. It’s one thing to tax for access to public waterways; it’s another to tax people because of what they see out the window.