City Council to Consider Major Hikes in Marina Fees Wednesday Night to Try to Close Budget Gap

Mooring, utility and liveaboard rates all set to rise significantly to bring them in line with neighboring marinas, reduce annual subsidy from General Fund, as city grapples with ongoing deficit

Wednesday night’s Martinez City Council meeting will include a recommendation to significantly hike an assortment of Marina fees to try to stem the drain on the city’s budget from operating costs at the struggling facility.

According to a city staff report, officials are proposing raising mooring fees by 40.69% to align with the cumulative Bay Area Consumer Price Index increase from 2014 to 2025 (either immediately on Jan. 1 or in a two-year phased approach); double the existing utility fees, and add a $5 monthly water charge per vessel; and increase the monthly liveaboard fee from $200 to $275 per vessel.

To justify the large increases, the staff report points out that “Martinez continues to have among the lowest rates for mooring, liveaboard and utility charges, when compared to Benicia, Vallejo, Pittsburg and Antioch.” It also notes “the strain the Marina has placed on the City’s General Fund” because of growing operating costs that have not been accompanied by fee increases in recent years. The last known adjustment in Marina fees occurred in 2014, according to the report.

Without the proposed increases, the city faces an ongoing annual Marina subsidy of $650,000 a year, the report states, which ultimately would necessitate significant budget cuts to maintain adequate reserve levels.

Under the new management of F3 Marina, the marina has undergone significant enhancements this year, including upgraded lighting and security; dock and utility repairs; and expanded cleaning, painting, landscaping and waste management. “These improvements have resulted in improved on-site staffing and customer service,” the report states, noting that they have also come at a “significant cost” that has led to a significant increase in the General Fund subsidy to the Marina.

Since the 2021-22 fiscal year, the city has used $2 million from General Fund reserves to cover Marina needs, including loans totaling $419,902. The current fiscal year budget includes an additional $560,000 loan to the Marina Enterprise Fund to help cover the operating shortfall of the Marina.

The financial challenges at the Marina come at a time when the City Council is immersed in negotiations with San Diego developer Tucker Sadler to strike an “exclusive negotiating agreement” that could lead to an ambitious commercial development plan for the land, which could include hotels, an amphitheater, retail and recreational facilities, and more. The council will meet in closed session before Wednesday’s meeting to continue those negotiations.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the council will receive an update on the city’s long-term financial challenges. According to a staff report for that presentation on the city’s budget and Capital Improvement Program, the city’s “long-range financial forecast projects a long-term structural deficit, requiring approximately $1.2 million in new recurring (non-one-time) revenue or ongoing budget reductions through Fiscal Year 2030 to remain balanced.”

Budget pressures, according to the report, continue to be driven by rising insurance premiums; increased labor expenses; higher health care costs; escalating unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree health; and ongoing General Fund support for the Marina’s operating deficit and debt service. The city made $1.5 million in budget reductions this year to mitigate those costs.

An average staff vacancy rate of approximately 7.61% in the first quarter of the fiscal year, however, has given the city some savings that can help “offset unplanned or unbudgeted expenses, or shortages in budgeted revenue, that may occur this year, including costs associated with the new Memorandum of Understanding with the Martinez Police Officers’ Association, anticipated to take effect January 1, 2026.” Nevertheless, the staff report cautions that “vacancy and salary savings cannot continue to serve as a backstop for new ongoing expenditures.”

The consent calendar for tonight’s meeting includes approval of a mural for the northern wall of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Contra Costa that received extensive discussion at a recent council meeting. Design changes were made in response to comments by council members. The previous and current designs can be seen at the following link: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3728266/Attachment_C_-_Proposed_Mural_Design__2_.pdf

The council is also set to approve a bid not to exceed $133,980 to remediate the Old Train Depot as part of a long-anticipated effort to renovate the facility and find a suitable use for it. The remediation will include a “complete interior demolition of the building,” according to the staff report.

Also on the consent calendar is the city’s annual free holiday downtown parking program in which parking meter fees will be waved beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 27 and ending at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 5.

Finally, the council will hold a public hearing tonight to update the Municipal Code to incorporate zoning changes as part of a planned inclusionary housing program. Inclusionary housing programs require developers of certain residential projects to set aside a share of their proposed units as deed-restricted affordable housing. According to the staff report on the item, Martinez is one of five municipalities in Contra Costa County (out of a total of 20) that has yet to adopt an inclusionary housing program. Martinez has proposed such a program, and Antioch and Orinda are in the process of adopting ones. Under Martinez’s proposal, residential or mixed-use projects with at least 11 dwelling units would be required to set aside at least 15% of the units for “acutely low-, extremely low-, very low-, low-, and/or moderate income households.”

Tonight’s regular council meeting begins at 7 p.m. and can be attended in person or on Zoom. The full agenda can be found at the following link: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/martinez/63196fbc71a40219ced8d87bb6092f5a0.pdf